“I loved dolls growing up and always had a thing for them. But sadly we could not have much time with dolls while growing up because we would have to do work and so on. So one day I decided to make a doll for myself and since then I have been a part of the fashion and craft world,” says Natasha David.
Natasha is a 42-year-old mother of one. She was born in Georgetown but moved to Imbatero, Region 1 (Barima-Waini) where she spent the first 11 years of her life. Natasha would then move to Matthews Ridge for a few years and then completed the circle by moving back to Georgetown at the age of 17.
When she moved back, she then began studying but always felt a bit incomplete.
“I was kind of restless. I was always amazed by what people can create and when I made the first doll my sister came and took it away with her and after that people see it and start ordering because it came out food. Since then I have been creating stuff and one day I met with Sonia Noel and she asked me to transfer what I did with the doll into clothing and I did it and since then I have been in fashion,” she says.
She has been professionally making dresses, jewellery and craft items for over nine years. Natasha said that she is more passionate about the fashion aspect of her business because there are not a lot of designers who make indigenous clothing. She explained that the demand is there but it is seasonal.
“I would make a lot of clothes for like September, February and May because that is when more people want it.”
Apart from clothing, she produces a number of various craft pieces and accessories to go with the outfits. One of the major challenges for Natasha is the accessing the materials needed to sustain her business. She would have to wait on people coming out from the remote villages to get the beads and stones for her accessories as well as travelling all the way to Suriname to get the cotton threads needed for her clothing creations.
“The cotton thread is important to make the clothes and I would use that with straw (I get from St Cuthbert’s Mission) and make various pieces. The costumes would sell whenever there is a cultural show and so on and I does make to order.”
Natasha has a small craft shop at her home in C Field Sophia and you would find
her at various exhibitions. She would be at the Sophia Exhibition Center as a part of the Indigenous Village. So be sure to check her creations out. (Times Sunday Magazine)
