At the age of 9 she already knew what she would do in the future.
She has a desire to be part of the incredible world of fashion and clothing making. The Colorado elementary school student was introduced to the craft in November 2021 with the support of her mother, Tony, and it was the start of a wonderful dream.
As Tonya described, one of the benefits of homeschooling a child is that she “has time to teach the children what they want to learn. As soon as my kids came up to me and said, “I want to be a couturier when I grow up” or “I want to be a chef,” I advise them not to wait until they grow up. Let’s learn together now.”
“I’ve sewn for many years but knew almost nothing about tailoring,” she continued. “If Kaya wants to sew something out of the ordinary like pants, I’d have to invent something to teach her.
The girl squeezed each lesson like a squeegee. After the first lessons, she kept surprising the internet with her artistic work. From dresses to suits, cascading dresses to splits, she can do it all. As she completes her next work, she uses the hallway of her home as a catwalk to showcase designs that even adults will marvel at.
Kaya said she rarely plans her work in advance.
“I just wait for something to motivate me, be it a tissue or a certain finish. And then I have footage in my head and I usually start sculpting the weave until the dress matches the footage in my head.”
Every work Kaya creates has a whole new look.
“What never comes true is that I only use very delicate and cuddly towels,” says the young fashion designer.
Comfort always comes first for Kaya. According to her, she doesn’t wear traditional girly outfits.
“I like making clothes because the fancy dresses in the little girls department are so stiff and uncomfortable,” she explains. – I can be very fashionable in my outfits, but feel good at the same time. So I can go to the coffee party and then ride my scooter through the park without having to change my outfit.”
Although Kaya has designed dozens of outfits, her current favorite dress is the “pink satin dress”. I made it from hand painted fabric. It looks shimmery and transforms color as soon as she turns to open the dress. Kaya and her mother buy most of their necessities from thrift stores.
The fashionista has a desire to later become a skilled fashion designer, hoping to have a happy business with her closest companion Ariana, with whom she has designed some works. Another wish is to design or collaborate with Zendaya.
Your desires are not far from becoming a reality. Mom and daughter have more than 15,000 followers online, and everyone wants to know what the girl thinks next.
As mentioned by Kaya, her favorite designers are Vera Wong and Gunnar Deteridge. It was her work that motivated her to take a foray into the world of fashion.
“Vera and Ganner were very supportive and encouraging,” she says.
Vera Wang, one of America’s most famous wedding dress designers, used to mixing modern design with traditional elegance, spotted a talented girl and even provided her with a sewing machine. Vera Wang pays attention to the work of designers of young girls.
According to the latter, only diligent work can make a dream come true.
Kaya herself is ready to support those who dream of sewing, but are afraid that it will not work out.
“My advice to anyone just starting out is to keep it simple,” she says. “You will make mistakes, but you always have the opportunity to correct them.”
So what does Kaya see for herself in the future?
“I’ll just keep getting new things and trying new approaches,” she says. – As far as the future is concerned, I have many plans. I have a desire to go to college with my closest friend to study design. We want to work together at Starbucks to pay for college and open our own couturier in Paris, New York, Seattle or San Diego after graduation.”
