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.
“I hate just throwing it in the trash," she said. "So I started making stuff with it. So I would combine pieces, I'll put them together. And it gained a lot of traction in the community. And people were like, wow, this is really cool. It's sustainable work, a sustainable brand. And then I started doing that, and I really enjoyed it.”
Rabiu has worked with upholstery, denim, and crocheted yarn as well.
“Fabric is not safe around me," she said. "That's all I'm going to say. Anything that is a fabric, I would, I would take it and work with it. I've remixed a lot.”
Although she compares picking a favorite design to picking a favorite child, she says her first attempt to make a piece of her own, a blanket she turned into a hoodie, was transformational.
“Because it was just a blanket. And then the idea of, creating something that is one of one, the feeling of knowing that nobody has what you have is like, ‘Oh my god, only I have this,’ you know, you can't get this at the mall," she said. "It's not in any shop, you know. So I think that was my first creation. And then I think that was, like one of my favorites, like the feeling of, well, I think this is going to be a thing.”
Since founding her brand in 2022, Rabiu has had a meteoric rise, showing her work in Paris and London fashion weeks in 2024 and 2025. She says she is proud to represent the Capital Region on global stages.
“Every time I have a fashion show, when I meet people, a lot of people ask, 'Oh, so where are you in New York?' And I'm, like, 'two and a half hours away,' " she said. "So they automatically think, is New York City, because, you know, that's the market when it comes to fashion. But no, just being from Albany, New York and doing this is amazing. And I'm not going to New York City either.”
Rabiu also got another chance to contribute to Albany history this year when she was asked to design Mayor Dorcey Applyrs’ suit for her inauguration ceremony. It was a cream suit with a tulip motif on the jacket – a motif Applyrs’ requested as a tribute to Albany.
“To have worked with the mayor was one of the highlights, I have to say, of my career," she said. "So, she came to me and we talked about what she would like, and that's how that started. And she wanted a particular color. She wanted to highlight the Albany tulip. So I was able to get the fabric, and we started working on that. And as she would walk by, she would just say hello, and I'm like, 'you can't see it just yet,' but it was amazing. We worked together tirelessly on it.”
Rabiu said it was particularly meaningful to contribute to a history-making event.
“I've known the mayor before she became the mayor, you know, so she was a client, and it was just so beautiful that I was able to work with her to design an inaugural suit for her," she said. "It was definitely history in the making. You know, knowing that she's going to be sworn in as the first Black mayor of Albany.”
With her next major shows coming up in New York and Milan, Rabiu wants to continue to represent the Capital Region around the world. And she also has her eye on higher office.
“I could work with female[s] and female[s] in power, just any like female in power. So I think the governor is next, and I'm putting it out there. If anybody knows, come see me downtown Albany.”
