Crafting identities one piece at a time

How Maria Khan Yusafzai used her love for unique jewellery to launch a successful business

(Photo courtesy of Maria Khan Yusafzai)

“They were too much for me,” Maria Khan Yusafzai describes the jewellery her grandmother shared with her as a child. That became a source of inspiration to start her own jewellery business, which creates pieces for everyone according to their own taste. 

Yusafzai’s jewellery brand, Maria Khan Yusafzai (also known as MKY), started as an online business in 2019 and has since expanded to three locations: two in Pakistan and one in Toronto. 

Yusafzai grew up in Lahore, Pakistan. She is the only sister of three brothers and always saw herself as a ‘tomboy’ growing up. Sitting at a table in the left corner of her store, she talks more about the type of jewellery she used to get from her grandmother. 

“Back in the day, there was no concept of charms and a lot of dangly jewellery, [just] plain silver chain[s] or earrings,” she says. 

Yusafzai explains how she upcycled those pieces to make a bracelet and a key charm. The bracelet is inspired by the popular Disney Channel character, Hannah Montana. Silver dangly charms hang from it, each with a different design. It’s hard to tell that the piece was once a pair of earrings.

Yusafzai's love for innovative and creative jewellery inspired her to start her brand in 2019. MKY began as an online business, which later expanded into stores in Lahore and Karachi — two of the biggest cities in Pakistan. 

For centuries, jewellery has been an important part of South Asian women's lives, either as an investment or as an inheritance, passed down to daughters and granddaughters as Yusafzai’s grandmother did. 

According to Yusafzai, jewellery isn’t just about inheritance. 

“I want jewellery to be far more personal than [inheritance],” Yusafzai says. “[Yes] go for it 100 per cent, pass it down, but maybe upcycle it.” Upcycling a jewellery piece means transforming it into something different from its original look, which is what Yusafzai wants for people: jewellery shouldn’t just be about financial security; it should also be about daily enjoyment and personal style. 

MKY focuses on creating unique, customizable jewellery pieces tailored to customers’ current desires. Yusafzai hosts workshops in her stores where people upcycle their jewellery themselves to create pieces that represent them. Her brand’s slogan is “wear your story.”

She moved to Canada in 2024 after getting married and opened MKY’s Toronto branch in December, 2025. When asked if she has a favourite place in Toronto  she said she doesn’t have one yet besides her home and the store, because she hasn't explored the city enough.

Yusafzai’s store is the perfect blend of minimal and chic, located in the middle of Queen St. West. The store is surrounded by cool establishments: cafes, clothing shops and other jewellery boutiques. Natural light streams in through the door, illuminating a chai station in the front-right corner. Jewellery pieces made by her interns at the Lahore store sit beside it. Clear shelves line the walls, displaying different jewellery pieces. One is a gold sculpture, with curved lines and teardrop shapes, meant to be worn on the fingers like a clutch. The piece is best described as effortlessly cool. 

(Image courtesy of Maria Khan Yusafzai)

In 2024, MKY launched “jhumky”: earrings traditionally worn by South Asian women.  “I used to look at MKY, and it was very foreign,” Yusafzai says.  “There was no sense of representation for Pakistan and MKY, that is why I launched jhumkas.” Yusafzai let her creative side come in,.She created detachable jhumkas that let customers buy the hoop and switch between different types of jhumkis or add charms to suit their preferences. Yusafzai adds a touch of culture and tradition to MKY while also expressing her unique style and creativity through her work 

Khadija Saeed, the manager of MKY’s Lahore branch , says Yusafzai’s creative thinking led to the brand's success. 

“What makes MKY different is the thinking of Maria, the customer service, and the trust people have in us.” Saeed mentions MKY’s in-store workshops, which no other store in Pakistan does.  

Yusafzai wears multiple jewellery pieces as we talk. One is a necklace with multiple chunky charms, including one that resembles a paper clip attached to a big silver heart. This is one of her favorite pieces right now, especially because of its mixed metals, something that she has been experimenting with.

Dried flowers hang on the wall in MKY’s back office. The decorations hold sentimental value: Yusafzai  tells me they were a gift from her family upon opening the store. A map on the wall creatively and innovatively marks  MKY’s journey. Yusafzai spoke about a customer who comes to the store monthly to have a bracelet made. That customer now has at least 14 bracelets. “I find that so cute,” she says with a big smile on her face.When asked about her future plans for MKY, Yusafzai said that in five years she wants to see stores in France and New York.