I built MAS because I needed it to exist — and it didn't.
Fashion was my first love. But it loved me back conditionally. As a Black woman navigating predominantly white spaces, I learned early that "fitting in" often meant making yourself smaller — in the fitting room and everywhere else. The industry I adored had a very specific idea of what a body should look like. Mine was never quite it.
For a long time, I adapted. I shifted. I reached for clothes that promised to fix something that was never actually broken.
Then I found movement — real, physical, joyful movement. CrossFit, dance, boxing. My body stopped being a problem to solve and started being a partner to trust. And somewhere in that shift, I stopped waiting for fashion to include me. I decided to build it instead.