Karachi is a cosmopolitan city of diverse ethnic groups. The Mahin Hussain team comprises of a hard working urdu speaking work force.
The embroidery team is led by Shafique who after 30 years of work can do wonders with a needle and thread in his skilled fingers. Shafique started hand embroidery as an apprentice at the age of 8 in Resham Gali, Hyderabad. At age 10, he moved to Karachi. He was the only brother in a family of 5 sisters and needed to earn a living. Studied til class 8 and then due to circumstances decided to devote his time to embroidery. Now at 38 years of age he has 4 apprentices who are learning the skill from him and only one of his sons out of 5 children will learn hand embroidery from him.
The stitching unit is run by the very resourceful Anees. He can ride his bike from one corner of Karachi to the other in search of the right fabric or the perfect hardware. Having worked with Mahin for over 15 years, he now understands her taste and aesthetic more than any other person in the team. Anees's father started screen printing over 50 years ago in Karachi's remote area of Golimar (literally Shoot the gun) where they also live in a joint family. Anees started his own stitching unit over 20 years ago and now his son is also involved in this bag making business.