We were lucky to catch up with A-Jah Geathers-Dayse recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, A-Jah thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

Since I was five, I was very self-aware of the fact that I wanted to be a fashion designer. And because my mother raised me to be extremely specific with the things I desired, I also knew I would name my brand P.S.D since then. At that time the P.S.D stood for Pure Strength Designs, (I hadn’t known how to sew just yet but I was gifted at drawing, so I would make fashion illustrations until i filled every page in my sketchbook,) now, the P.S.D stands for Peace, Soul, Dream. What’s so fun about acronyms is that, if I ever feel differently, the label can mean something entirely different tomorrow.

To redirect back to the topic (I am a certified yapper), I knew fashion wasn’t just a hobby for me- I’ve always wanted to make it lucrative. I envisioned it as my job, although I wasn’t sure how it would happen. I mention my mother again because she was such a driving force for the things I thought possible of accomplishing; I saw her make a twenty-eight-year career off of being a successful hairstylist, from there she branched off into being a personal stylist. She was very business-minded and constantly thinking of new experiences to expose me to since she knew I was passionate and very driven about my dreams so she made sure to put me around other people who had professional careers in fashion to give me some insight.

A-Jah, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is A-Jah, I’m from Charleston, SC and I am the designer behind my brand, PSDTHELABEL. Big and bold and all caps for the drama.

Crochet dresses, skirts, tops, and initially bikinis is my jam. That’s what I specialize in. The thing about crochet is that there is no machine like there are knitting machines- so every order I’ve ever fulfilled, aside from classic merch, I’ve made with my own two hands. I thought I would be the type of designer that took up sewing but I realized very early that I enjoy making pieces from scratch rather than following a pattern or instructions. It took me learning how to use a sewing machine and learning crochet (both when I was fifteen,) to come to this conclusion. Something about the traditional, ancient work of creating things by hand excites me, It’s more of an energetic exchange between me as an artist and the medium that I can create far better with. It’s where I become the machine.

My main goal when I first started putting my brand out there in 2019 was to escape the standard lane that we see crochet in, a hobby for elderly women to sit in a rocking chair and make blankets. No. For my brand, I knew immediately, I wanted to sexify it. Add some glamour. Make it fun. Create pieces the most particular person I know (myself) would actually wear. I also wanted to completely abolish crochet’s natural association with winter. Vacation essentials, resort wear, I believe in an endless summer. I put in a lot of work to make sure my PSDTL babies look unreal for holiday, whatever or wherever it may be. I’ve seen a lot of my influence become trends in the crochet world because every year, since I’ve started, a different design of mine has gone viral on social media. There have been hardships, copy cats, imposters, selling my designs as if they created them, it used to upset me so bad but it’s so funny now because I just can’t be bothered anymore. I don’t care. And as a person who creates the trend, it makes me a tastemaker. My taste is magnificent! And I’m glad I can fulfill my duty to make the world a sexier place.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

To best support artists, especially in this social media era we’re in, giving a creator credit goes such a long way. There’s this odd notion of “gatekeeping” and I believe it comes from a lack mindset. It champions scarcity and reduces community, If something is great and you adore it, why not share? Share enthusiastically! We all benefit in the end.

Also supporting true creatives that are passionate about what they do creates a big difference. There’s a lot of people who are blinded by the lights, i.e, the popularity of being a creative instead of the integrity. There needs to be an honest conversation had that there is pollution in the art and fashion world, simply because more people are doing it for the money instead of the passion. It’s important for us as a society to weed out the folks who are creating illusions of being an artist simply for a cash grab. That’s why so many individuals are getting scammed left and right. Discernment is so important.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

First and foremost, I am a nerd. Seriously. Academics was everything to me in school, I was in the honors classes, college courses in high school, straight A’s etc. because I love to indulge in information. That being said, New Age Spirituality is very Me. It’s what I grew up on, my mom would play The Secret audio recordings on my way to school in the morning. So my book recommendations will be based on metaphysics and such. You can’t flourish without a healthy mind and while I’m extremely professional words like, “entrepreneurial” and “management” feel so…stuffy. I’m more of an intuitive person. And intuition will give you exactly what you need, whether it’s a pat on the back or to fall flat on your ass. Books that I would 1000% encourage you to read are:

Acts of Faith by Iyanla Vanzant

Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés

A Happy Pocket Full of Money by David Cameron Gikandi

Becoming Supernatural by Joe Dispenza

The Power of Shakti by Padma Aon Prakasha

The Law of Divine Compensation by Marianne Williamson

The Game of Life and How to Play It by Florence Scovel Shinn

Contact Info:

• Website: www.psdthelabel.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/psdthelabel
• Twitter: x.com/psdthelabel

Image Credits
model, designer, and co-creative director: @444jah model and co-creative director: @aniyahjelisa