From being born in Syria and enduring the atrocities of the civil war, to working as a child in Turkey to help support his family and eventually immigrating to Canada, few could have predicted that Ala Alhaj Obid would one day have his own business.
At just 21, he opened his alteration and tailoring shop, D&F Tailoring Experts, at 543 Herald St. in downtown Victoria on July 31.
This marks the culmination of years of hard work and a chance for him to pour his talent into every garment he is entrusted to alter, repair, or create.
From Aleppo to Istanbul
Born in Syria, Obid recalled a childhood shaped by the civil war between the Assad regime and rebel forces, where constant air raids became part of daily life.
“It was horrible… the planes would come and just bomb houses,” he recalled somberly, offering no further detail.
Hoping to give their family a better future, Obid’s parents left their small town just outside of Aleppo and moved north to neighbouring Turkey with their five young children.
After a long journey, the family arrived in Istanbul in 2016. Obid was 12.
Now out of harm’s way, life was far from playtime for the young boy. As the eldest son, he was expected to help sustain the family and ensure his younger siblings could attend school.
Although the legal age for full-time employment in Turkey is 18-years-old, Obid said child labour was a common practice for Syrian migrants. One of the few options available to the young boy was work in the textile industry. With little choice, he began with the most basic tasks, including sorting fabric, cutting material, repairing sewing machines and fetching supplies.
An autodidact and fast-learner, Obid learned Turkish on the fly and developed a knack for tailoring.
“During the breaks, I just sat at the machines and started exploring,” he said.
What began as a necessity for survival eventually became a passion. In his spare time, he spent countless hours making clothes for his younger siblings and sharpening his tailoring skills.
“I would come at night at home (and sew) after my 12-hour shift,” he said. “I had no school and the job was the only thing I had,” he said.
Starting with basic tasks, the boy’s talent quickly grew, and by the age of 13, he was designing clothes on his own.
His skills eventually earned him a position as a sewing machine operator working alongside people more than twice his age, something he described as “an unusual thing to see.”
And his talent wouldn't go unnoticed for long.
At 17, while working for Turkish fast-fashion giant Koton, he was tasked with the position of manager, leading a team of eight.
Yet, despite rapidly carving out his place up the ranks, the young man said that life in Turkey, though safer than Syria, was far from ideal.
“My younger (siblings) were not in the best schools,” he said, adding that racism towards refugees was a common thing in Turkey.
It was while Obid’s mother was renewing the family’s temporary Turkish IDs that an organization assisting Syrian migrants with finding a new home country reached out to her.
After a lengthy correspondence and a round of interviews, the family was selected for immigration.
“We knew it was for (leaving) but we didn't know where,” he said. “We were expecting Europe or something, but not Canada.”
When he heard the news, the young man was elated. From a young age, Obid explained spending time scrolling the internet and exploring YouTube, eager to learn more about Canada, a country that fascinated him.
“Canada had chosen us, and it was a very, very happy day,” he said.
In the land of the Maple Leaf
On Sept. 16, 2021, the family of seven landed in Victoria.
While turning a new page and starting from scratch is difficult, Obid was up to the challenge.
Within the first month, he enrolled in English classes at Camosun College and while his family searched for housing amid the COVID pandemic, he returned to sewing.
After using services offered by the Victoria Immigrant and Refugee Centre, a staff member heard about Obid and introduced him to the manager of Stitch It, a clothing alteration shop at Victoria’s Mayfair Mall.
After a brief introduction, the newcomer landed a job.
“I could see the smile on her face and I knew she would hire me,” he said. “I was happy that she just put me in a trusted position and I just did what she gave me. That was without speaking to me a word, no interview, nothing other than just greetings.”
The following day, Obid started what would become a three-year stay at the shop.
During that time, while attending school, working, and making ends meet as an Uber driver, an idea began to flourish in the young man’s mind. “What if he owned his own business?” he asked himself.
After countless trials and tribulations, working out the details of starting his own business, raising the funds, and obtaining his business license from the City of Victoria, the young entrepreneur finally opened his shop on July 31.
Working seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Obid welcomes anyone needing clothing alterations, taking on any job and working with any material.
“When somebody comes in, I'm expecting to put a smile on their face,” he said. “I am somebody who is obsessed about pleasing customers because I care about every stitch and where they fall, because they (become part of) a story.”
For more information about D&F Tailoring Experts, visit df-tailoring-experts.co
