\n\tKARACHI: Turab Ali Ismail Ji Munniwala, a skilled craftsman, set up a small leather retail shop in Pakistan\u2019s commercial capital of Karachi in 1975 and put his heart and soul into making leather bags of various shapes and sizes. His son, Aqeel Hussain, took over the business ten years later and focused it on corporate giveaways, but after the passing of Munniwala more than three decades later, it became difficult for Hussain to run the business alone.<\/p>\n
\n\tIn conservative Pakistan, people often expect a male heir like Hussain, now in his 60s, to carry forward the family\u2019s business and legacy, but Hussain had no son and his daughters, Marium and Sakina, determined to honor their late grandfather\u2019s 50-year legacy, took it upon themselves and amazed many by making Munniwala\u2019s leather bag business an online success.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe sister duo, 32-year-old Marium and 25-year-old Sakina who both had full-time careers as a graphic designer and a corporate lawyer respectively, set out to take their grandfather\u2019s business online in February 2022. Today, their venture, named \u2018Turab\u2019 after Munniwala, is breathing new life into a legacy that could have faded away without them.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIt wasn\u2019t a planned thing initially, but it just sort of came into being that \u2018okay, who\u2019s going to help Abbu [our father]?\u2019,\u201d Sakina recalled how Turab came to life.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWhen we basically started to grow up, it was always a thing that who is going to take this business forward because we don\u2019t have a brother. Living in a desi [local] household, it\u2019s always a thing that businesses are being led forward by sons in a family.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\tSakina Hussain, co-funder of Turab, is holding a tote bag at her home in Karachi, Pakistan, on March 6, 2025. (AN photo)<\/figcaption>
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\n\tBorn and raised in Karachi, the sisters belong to the Dawoodi Bohra community. The family\u2019s shop in Saddar still exists, with their grandfather\u2019s working table still intact. Two of the workers, who started out with their father years ago, still work at the shop and mainly look after the production side of affairs with Hussain.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cPeople nowadays kill to buy pure leather products, but we don\u2019t have the kind of market for pure leather products here. The players that we have in the market are really expensive for the masses to buy,\u201d Sakina told Arab News.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cAnd that\u2019s kind of where the idea of Turab came into being. We wanted to create something that\u2019s not only good quality leather but also really affordable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tBoth Marium and Sakina have since been pushing their family legacy forward with a fresh, modern touch.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cAs far as the designing is concerned, that\u2019s where we come in. We decided to make the most modern and minimal products that you don\u2019t find in the market,\u201d Marium told Arab News.<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.arabnews.pk\/sites\/default\/files\/pictures\/March\/2999496\/2025\/turab_2.jpg\")
\n\t\t\tMarium Hussain (left) takes picture as\u00a0Sakina Hussain poses for a picture with a Turab bag at their house in Karachi, Pakistan, on March 6, 2025. (AN photo)<\/figcaption>
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\n\tTurab offers a range of leather products including tote bags, cross body bags, duffel bags, wallets, travel organizers and laptop sleeves in shades of red, green, orange, yellow and blue.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cBeing two women, who like to carry good bags [and] funky colors, the inspiration comes from within. All the players in the market that we have for pure leather, they typically go around the shades of browns [and] blacks,\u201d Sakina said.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cAnd while that\u2019s a big classic, the youth of today really resonates with vibrant and funky colors and that\u2019s something that we\u2019ve tried to incorporate in our brand.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAs co-founders, the two sisters manage most domains of the online business themselves. The branding is taken care of by Marium.<\/p>\n
\n\tShe also does product photography herself, with Sakina modelling for it.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s a home-based setup [and] that\u2019s how it started. We started making all of our products at the shop and then we brought it home. We converted our dada\u2019s [grandfather\u2019s] room basically into the Turab room and that\u2019s where we store all of our products,\u201d Marium said.<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.arabnews.pk\/sites\/default\/files\/pictures\/March\/2999496\/2025\/turab_4.jpg\")
\n\t\t\tMarium Hussain, co-funder of Turab, stands outside her retail shop in Karachi, Pakistan, on March 6, 2025. (AN photo)<\/figcaption>
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\n\tThe sisters have been to pop-ups and exhibitions, which they say has really helped elevate their business.<\/p>\n
\n\tBut it has its challenges too.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWhen people see two women behind the table, specifically men, they come and try to question the knowledge that we have about leather [and] about the product we are selling,\u201d Sakina shared.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThey probably think that we don\u2019t know enough or not more than them.\u201d<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.arabnews.pk\/sites\/default\/files\/pictures\/March\/2999496\/2025\/turab_3.jpg\")
\n\t\t\tMarium Hussain (right), Sakina Hussain (left), and their father pick leather at their retail shop in Karachi, Pakistan, on March 6, 2025. (AN photo)<\/figcaption>
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\n\tMarium, on the other hand, was initially not taken seriously by the artisans at her grandfather\u2019s shop.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI often go to [our shop in] Saddar to discuss the production side and the karigars [artisans] often don\u2019t take me very seriously. They give me that look that, \u2018we will talk to your dad. He knows, you don\u2019t know\u2019,\u201d she said, adding that she hasn\u2019t see any women anywhere near the leather goods production side at least.<\/p>\n
\n\tHowever, her father vouched for the skill of both sisters to run the business.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThey catch everything very quickly,\u201d he said. \u201cThe leather business is a bit technical. It took them about a year and a half [to learn], but now they can feel everything and tell you what is leather and what is not.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe two sisters have carved a niche and the future looks promising as they plan to launch a physical outlet and make Turab a \u201chousehold name\u201d not just in Pakistan, but beyond.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cFrom packing orders every two days to one week, now packing every single day [and] multiple orders in a day, we have come a long way. And just going forward,\u201d Marium said.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe got a couple of orders from Dubai. Right now, I am talking to someone in Canada [and] the USA.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n