Embroider and Stitch

Munawara Sultana is an entrepreneur in Buffalo, NY who continues a trend of female empowerment through her company MS Collections.

Despite immigrating to the United States a mere six months ago, Munawara Sultana, or Muna, is dedicated to rebuilding the female-led artisan business she had established in Pakistan.

From the moment Muna was born, her path was set to become an empowered woman. Despite the steep barriers to education faced by many Pakistani women, Muna was able to receive an undergraduate degree that prepared her for her career as an entrepreneur. 

In fact, Muna’s experience was not uncommon in her family.Like Muna, her three sisters also followed in their mother’s footsteps by higher-level pursuing education, and this was all by design. Defying the expectations of his family, Muna’s father celebrated the bright minds of the women around him, marrying Muna’s mother because he wanted an educated woman in his life. 

As Muna matured into a strong, independent woman, she was driven to help other Pakistani women. It began when her cousin was diagnosed with cancer. Despite struggling with her recent divorce and the social stigma that came with it, Muna steadfastly cared for her beloved cousin upon discovering that her male relatives had no intention of paying for medical treatment.

Upon her deathbed, Muna’s cousin said to her, “Why don’t you start something for the girls who are still in the system, who don’t have the money or the education, but can stitch and embroider.”

From there, Muna’s business began, and she started by engaging the work of another female cousin of hers. A jeweler by trade, this cousin packaged her wares in velvet pouches. Once Muna suggested that these pouches be produced by local girls, her cousin supported her idea wholeheartedly. When she registered her business with the government, Muna used her initials to create a name for her company, and MS Collections was born. 

Through her own ingenuity and the support of her family, MS Collections thrived. From its initial inception, Muna expanded her work into the traditional Pakistani craft of Ajrak: an ancient practice involving the handprinting of fabric on wooden blocks.

Armed with a shoebox of her cousin’s jewelry and a few Ajrak textiles, Muna’s first booth at a national exhibition was an enormous success. With the profits she earned, she continued to expand her business. Soon, MS Collections became a crucial source of connection and education for the women Muna employed. 

Recalling the transformation the female workers underwent, Muna remarks, “By then, they were these women who were empowered with money, and they knew their rights.”

However, the autonomy and knowledge that Muna imparted to her women brought her into conflict with her male cousins. They saw the newfound assertiveness of these women as dangerous, and worked to stop production. Steadfast in her convictions, Muna refused to backdown, and having the support of her father, the family patriarch, MS Collections became an unstoppable force.

Even now, Muna continues to look for ways to continue her work supporting Pakistani women Currently, she hopes to partner with Stitch Buffalo by importing her textiles from Pakistan for the Stitch Buffalo women to embroider. In the future, Muna wants to open her own cafe that features products made by Pakistani women. Through this, she hopes to start a local conversation of the experience of women in Pakistan.

On connecting the local and international struggle for gender equality, Muna says, “I'm trying to help out the women I was helping in Pakistan. Now I do the same from here.”

Unfortunately, the immigration process has proven to be a major obstacle for Muna. As she awaits her work permit, Muna is unable to work, and paying her bills has become a constant hardship.

Still, Muna refuses to let these dark moments dissuade her from her path because she knows that her work has relevance to women, not only in Buffalo and Pakistan, but everywhere. 

Regarding women's rights across the globe, Muna recalls, “wherever I go, it is amazing that all the women in the world have the same problems.”