Give her a piece of fabric and some thread, and Kaia Aragon will turn it into the outfit of her dreams.
The Colorado resident was 5 years old when her mother, Tonya Aragon, taught her how to sew. When she turned 7, Tonya bought Kaia a sewing machine, and now at 9 she has hundreds of thousands of TikTok followers who can't get enough of her one-of-a-kind fashion creations.
Tonya told Today she is "blown away" by her daughter's creativity. Her first sewing project was a bed for her kitten, then a wallet, and since then Kaia has made dozens of skirts, dresses, and tops. She designs and sews them all on her own — her line is called "Kaia Rae Design" — and finds inspiration everywhere; a recent ensemble was influenced by the house in Encanto.
Kaia's current project is transforming a wedding dress from 1983 into a skirt, and one fan who can't wait to see how it turns out is iconic fashion designer Vera Wang. She recently commented on a TikTok video featuring one of Kaia's original designs, and sent her a new sewing machine and note letting her know she's "so excited to see you are already pursuing your dream of becoming a fashion designer."
Kaia told Today she was "so excited" by the praise, and when she realized just how big of a deal Wang is in the fashion world, "I was freaking out."