Making beautiful garments from one thread. Aisa Tjon can do that like no other. She started small by crocheting hats, scarves and bags for herself and friends, but now even crochets entire dresses and is a starting entrepreneur, AisasCreationz. The fifty-year-old designer still has big plans for the future. "My dream is to give shows in America, Paris and of course Suriname."
“I learned to crochet from the nuns at school when I was young,” says Aisa Tjon, who comes from Paramaribo. “I was always busy changing clothes by adjusting them and decorating them with borders.” However, little Aisa did not really have the ambition to become a designer. “I always wanted to be a flight attendant, so that I could see a lot of the world and meet different people.” She never became a flight attendant. When Aisa came to the Netherlands in 1975, she got her diploma for administration and started working as an administrative assistant at a school. After that, she became a caregiver for the elderly and even worked as a model. Eventually, she started doing something with her love for fashion that she had had from a young age.
In 2004, Aisa crocheted her first loshoulder. “I had my hair slicked and wanted to have hats for it. I looked at a losh shoulder up close once and after two tries I succeeded and started crocheting them more often.” Once Aisa had mastered that, she started crocheting more and more things. “I crocheted bags and scarves and even received orders.” She even received so many orders that a friend had to help her crochet to keep up with everything. That’s how Aisa started Rasta Designs. “Together with my friend Sherida, we had rented a stall at the fair in Beverwaard in Rotterdam. Two women came to us there and asked if we could also crochet dresses. Sherida and I looked at each other and said at the same time ‘Yes, we can do that’. It was quite a challenge, because we had never done anything like that before.” When the first dress was a success, Aisa started crocheting more dresses. Short, long, natural or in the colours of the Surinamese flag, for example, Aisa went all out and changed the name Rasta Designs to AisasCreationz. “I now do all the crocheting myself and my mother makes jewellery from fimo clay that matches the clothes I make.” But Aisa doesn’t just crochet the clothes, she also gives workshops and organises fashion shows where she can show off her clothes. She has models with all kinds of different postures do this. She also makes her own fabrics and is crazy about African motifs and symbols. “I deliberately chose models with different sizes, because I think everyone is beautiful, regardless of height, size and colour.” 
Because Aisa sees something beautiful in everyone, she also thinks it's a shame that some people are ashamed of something that is part of them. "I've already asked several people why they are ashamed of their curly hair and there is always a whole story behind it. Some are not accepted and others are laughed at. They also said that they couldn't do much with it, while you can do a lot with curly hair." Aisa's favorite film ties in very well with her message to be happy with yourself and not to be ashamed of anything. "I think Thick Madame with Mo-nique is a very beautiful film, because it shows that being fat can also be very beautiful and that, if you are happy with yourself, you will be accepted and can even make a job of it. And a very educational film!" Aisa has had her natural curls for twenty years now. “When I was eleven, my mother straightened my hair because it was so thick that she could hardly comb it. After six years, she stopped because my hair fell out a lot. After that, I straightened it myself from the age of twenty to thirty. I did this for so long because I was not aware of how beautiful my frizzy hair actually is and that it can be different.” After she turned thirty, Aisa kept her frizzy hair natural again, she twisted it or put breads in it. Now she has her hair in locks. “I have had my locks for ten years now and prefer to wear them in a wrap. Every now and then I wear my hair loose in the summer or have my daughter braid it into a style.”
Aisa has no plans to retire early yet. “I still want to do so much. I definitely want to keep crocheting, give workshops and organize fashion shows. I hope that my clothes will become better known and my dream is to give shows in America, Paris and Suriname. Africa also really appeals to me.” Her dream of becoming famous in Africa may soon come true. “I have already received offers to show some of my clothes there,” she says. The crocheted clothes are mainly loved by the South American community, but do not exclude any race. “My clothes are not color-specific. They can be worn by both white and black men and women.” Yes, because Aisa also crochets clothes for men, such as vests and spencers. The clothes from AisasCreationz are mainly worn at various events, in nightlife and during weddings. Her sources of inspiration for making these clothes are the Simons twin sisters from America. “I saw how beautiful and diverse crocheted clothing could be with them and I also copied a few of their works. They give workshops on YouTube that you can easily follow, so that you can and may copy their clothing.” Her life motto? “Show who I am, not be afraid to fail and treat everyone the way I want to be treated. I live my life destined to be an old woman with no regrets…”
