I was born and partially raised in Togo, Africa before immigrating to the Westside of Chicago with my family in 2007 at the age of nine. While in Togo, I frequently stayed at my grandmother’s who rented part of her home to tailors and seamstresses in order to afford rent. As a young queer child, I often felt isolated and spent most of my time nestled under the cutting tables watching in awe as they turned brightly colored-printed African textiles into unique custom-made pieces for each client. After moving to Chicago, I began receiving the “what do you want to be when you grow up?” question that plagued many of our youth. The recollection of hiding under the work tables at my grandmother’s became a memory I always traveled back to. The unequivocal response was always “Fashion Designer”. Luckily, the adults in my life listened and nurtured my aspirations which eventually led me to study at Parsons School of Design.

During my undergraduate studies, I was awarded the CFDA Design Scholarship in 2019 towards my senior year. In 2020, while in my final year at Parsons, I received a sponsorship from Swarovski and UPW Yarn company for my senior capstone. Since graduating from Parsons, I’ve been fastidious in working in various facets of the industry while developing and growing my brand. Some of these roles include Public Relations at Telfar, Production at Christopher John Rogers, Post-Production Knitwear Specialist at CreateMe, and more recently, Color and Material Designer for Nike and Converse. I launched Black Boy Knits shortly after graduating from Parsons and was selected as a CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Finalist in 2022. In early 2023 I rebranded Black Boy Knits under Agbobly.