Mo Rabiu immigrated from Lagos to the U.S. in 2005 to study accounting at SUNY Plattsburgh — a path she thought would ensure her success. But after spending more than a decade in the field, she realized she wanted to pursue something more fulfilling.
“I love numbers, but it’s not as creative, you know,” she said. “We can’t make four and eight, so I just when I was doing it, I wanted my parents to be happy and proud and but also, you know, I’m creative. I have a creative spirit in me, and this is how this was birthed.”
After the lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, Rabiu took over a store on North Pearl St. in Albany, European Tailoring and Alterations, and started working as a tailor full-time in 2021. While she enjoyed the work, she wanted to create something of her own. Rabiu hated discarding garments, and her first inspiration for her work was repurposing scraps from the tailor shop…