Previous London Fashion 7 days designer pivots to modest vogue sector

An image from the Elle B. Zhou relaunch in May 2020. Courtesy image

An image from the Elle B. Zhou relaunch in 2020. Courtesy impression

(RNS) — From the pinnacles of the manner environment to a wrongful stint in prison and back, Elle B. Mambetov’s extraordinary particular journey has aided her emerge as a special voice in the entire world of luxury style.

Half a ten years back, her label Elle B Zhou appeared at Paris Manner 7 days and her purse selection at London Manner Week. She was functioning with some of the largest suppliers in the United Kingdom following a stint living in China.

The Texas-born designer, who bought her first stitching device at age 7, was a single of fashion’s growing stars.

Then police officers knocked on the doorway of her London flat with queries.

Mambetov, a foreigner, was cooperative but, unsure of the country’s lawful system, she by no means asked for a warrant. She was accused of fraud. In simple fact, Mambetov was the victim of an identification fraud. A conman whom she 1st satisfied at a conditioning middle had stolen her id in a complicated rip-off and billed some $1.3 million to her business. Arrested for the criminal offense, he was billed by the Interior London Crown Court with six counts of fraud. Nevertheless, he skipped bail and fled the nation — all prior to Mambetov was detained by the law enforcement.

The same con artist had also claimed to be a agent of other stars in net transactions, including Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift.

Even with realizing she was not responsible for the crime, Mambetov was saved in prison for additional than two yrs since she was deemed a flight possibility. Much of that time was put in at HMP Bronzefield, a utmost-safety women’s prison close to London, in which Mambetov, who is Black, said she knowledgeable serious racism.


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Fashion designer Elle B. Mambetov. Photo courtesy of Elle B. Mambetov

Trend designer Elle B. Mambetov. Photograph courtesy of Elle B. Mambetov

“America has its own racism and issues but, what I experienced in the United Kingdom was a really diverse amount and greatly spread variety of racism,” she told Faith Information Service. “There is typically an eerie silence about it and usually folks show their mindset not with their phrases but their steps. In the prison method, I was dealt with by means of a racial lens.”

At times in her cell, she said, she contemplated suicide. At other situations she dreamed of a triumphant return to the planet of manner. She documented a great deal of her ordeal in a guide, “A6347DW: American Captive.”

Lifted a Christian, Mambetov was stunned by the deficiency of aid she obtained from her religion group. “When I went into jail, each and every Christian other than my mother abandoned me,” she reported, incorporating that she wrote letters to just about every Christian she realized and they “did almost nothing.”

“Christians who had been in my lifestyle have been completely long gone,” she stated.

Inevitably, she mentioned, her mother’s letters to Congress captivated the consideration of the U.S. governing administration to her situation, which contributed to her release. Mambetov is looking for authorized action thanks to her ordeal and says she nevertheless suffers from write-up-traumatic pressure disorder.

On her release, she was told she would have no felony document and would be presented a just one-way ticket out of the United Kingdom. She selected Los Angeles.

In California, Mambetov took up residence at an Airbnb in the vicinity of Los Angeles Intercontinental Airport for a time. The operator of the property realized all about leaving a country less than duress. Selim Mambetov, a Crimean Tatar, experienced left Ukraine not extensive following Crimea was seized by Russian armed service forces in 2014. His father had been a Crimea language media temperament and just before the Russian profession he had pursued a creative occupation of his have. Right now, he works on resolving Los Angeles’ substantial homeless difficulty. The two before long fell in really like.

Virtual modeling of Elle B Zhou fashions. Video screengrab

Virtual modeling of Elle B Zhou fashions. Video clip monitor seize

“As a Christian I was taught you couldn’t marry a non-Christian. Immediately after prison, right after the way which so-known as Christians, other than my mom, taken care of me I didn’t care what people imagined about a Christian marrying a Muslim,” she told RNS.

Mambetov transformed to Islam not prolonged right after, she reported, as part of a personal religious journey that started off when she was still in jail. She returned to the world of fashion but with a target on the modest vogue movement well known with lots of Muslim shoppers.


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She revived her brand Elle B Zhou for the duration of Ramadan 2020. Her current womenswear selection, titled “Let the Stars Be Our Tutorial,” integrated a constellation map of the stars over Mecca and featured Egyptian actress Huda El Mufti. 

For a transient time, Mambetov also ran an Elle B Zhou luxury boutique at the Beverly Heart in Los Angeles. Amid these retail stores as Burberry, Tiffany’s and Fendi, her brand name provided a distinctive aesthetic. With Quranic verses on display screen, Allah diamond necklaces for sale and no music pumping through its speakers, Mambetov hoped to place buyers in a a lot more reflective temper. 

Virtual modeling of Elle B Zhou fashions. Video screengrab

Virtual modeling of Elle B Zhou fashions. Video monitor seize

“I wished to build a area that was far more deeply rooted, that was inclusive of all and that was also halal,” she reported. However, the store’s foot website traffic provided consumers of all stripes, from Muslim Us residents to Hollywood famous people.  

A number of components, which includes hidden charges, differing visions for the place and rising avenue criminal offense in Los Angeles, led Mambetov to near the spot. She now hopes to open a office retailer targeted on modest vogue someplace in the Beverly Hills space. She also ideas to open a boutique in Qatar, in which she maintains an business office and has partnered with the online luxury buying boutique Farfetch.

“I have been touring internationally my complete lifestyle with out situation. But, the initial time I went to vacation with a hijab I experienced a distinct expertise. I was pulled aside. I instructed the folks who have been interrogating me that this experienced hardly ever happened to me right before but they insisted it was ‘routine questioning’ and absolutely nothing irregular,” Mambetov mentioned. When she arrived at her desired destination she found out a Rimowa suitcase she had been touring with experienced been broken by the Transportation Protection Administration.

She hopes her function can be a bridge concerning two really unique principles of trend. For a designer who describes herself as the “Lady Gaga of modest fashion,” her line features vivid colors and lighthearted use of Arabic script. 

“Most people today, when they undergo the setbacks in their market or life, they transfer on,” said Selim Mambetov, her husband. “They do not go again and start from nothing like she has. And not only that, she has been capable to bounce even better than just before.”