ABOUT

My name is Noorzia Majeed and I am an Afghan woman. I moved to the United States after the fall of the government in August of 2021. I currently live in the south hills of Pittsburgh with my husband and 8 year old daughter, Behisht. Behisht means ‘paradise’ in Persian.

 

I have been a tailor for almost 30 years. My grandma and aunt were both tailors and taught me this art while I was a child. When I graduated from high school, I began teaching but still did tailoring work on the side. I am the oldest child in my family; I have three brothers and three sisters. Tailoring enabled me to contribute to the family income while doing something I love.

 

When the Taliban captured Afghanistan in September of 1996, I lost my job, so we moved to Pakistan to have a better life. I started work with a sewing center for refugee Afghan women such as myself. We worked on many crafts and embroidery projects to become self-sufficient. I worked there in different positions until the end of 2002, when the Taliban regime collapsed after 9/11. After this, I was moved to an office in Kabul as a general manager.

 

In the meantime, I have worked in many other positions and traveled to Italy, the US, Lebanon, and Greece. One of my most interesting projects was a fashion show in Pakistan where I designed and sewed a dress that was modeled on the runway.

 

Sewing is an art and looks somewhat different in the Middle East. In Afghanistan, about 80% of clothing is custom, in comparison to the US where the majority of people wear ready-made clothing. Back home, I had many clients due to the nature of fashion there.

 

Living in the Middle East during many years of war presented many challenges and we struggled to survive at times, but I am grateful to be in the US where I can work as a female entrepreneur and support my family.

 

I look forward to working with you soon!

 

Many Blessings,

Noorzia

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Languages Spoken:

English, Dari, Pashtoo, & Urdu