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Bibi
Russell
creates fashion to make the world a better place!
"No one's asked me to stock here yet!" Bibi Russell
exclaimed, on being asked if she was planning to stock her collections
in Karachi. Such a travesty – one predicts the outfits would
fly off the shelves.
By Saba
Imtiaz
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In
Karachi recently to show one of her collections at Karachi Fashion
Week, Bibi sat with Instep for a conversation about clothes, modeling
and her work as a UN HIV/AIDS ambassador. This was her second trip
to Karachi, which has created a far bigger stir than her first, when
she showed with Rizwan Beyg. At KFW, when models wearing a plethora
of sub continental colors floated down the runway in prêt outfits,
to the tune of 'Allah Megh De' (Bibi picks out her own music), it
made one wonder the cost of a ticket to Dhaka to snap up the outfits
at her newly opened store there.
Designer, model and most aggressively, social worker, Bibi is quite
a phenomenon. She's probably the only woman from this part of the
world who has modeled for the most high end fashion brands as well
as winning a UN Peace Prize for the work she has done on grass root
level. Her journey is inspiring.
Bibi Russell graduated from the London School of Fashion Design and
at her graduate show, was discovered by Harper's Bazaar as a model,
since her teacher told her to model two of her own outfits! A fourteen
page spread for Bazaar later, Bibi was one of the most sought after
models in the '70s and '80s, and modeled for almost every designer
and luxury brand known: Yves Saint Laurent, Kenzo, Karl Lagerfeld,
Valentino, Giorgio Armani, Rolls Royce, Jaguar, BMW, Toyota, Vidal
Sassoon, John Freida and Harvey Nichols. The transition from model
to designer was natural and that is what she was training for. It
wasn't easy, she admits. Being in a Bengali, she had to work extra
to prove herself.
Fast forward a couple of decades and she has become the most renowned
Bengali fashion designer on the world. But there's more to that than
brilliance of design. Her collections - under the tagline 'Fashion
for Development' espouse Bibi's philosophy of promoting local culture,
craftspeople and traditions, as well as providing sustainable income
to workers to a tee. |
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How
was her experience showing at Karachi Fashion Week?
"I wanted to come here because I believe Asia will go very big
in fashion. We need a structure, to have fashion councils etc. It's
important for older designers to inspire the younger generation. I
believe fashion can create socio economic development. Fashion is
not what brand you are - but it's a necessity of life and people.
Even poor people have to wear clothes. Every designer has grass root
people working for them - and this is how we can provide them sustainable
income. I thought my clothes would be very simple (at KFW). I wasn't
able to bring shoes because I didn't have the models'
sizes, but all the accessories were my own. The models kept asking
me 'do you want us to wear earrings?'
and I kept saying, till the last minute - you have the bangles etc,
this is it - I'm showing the spark
of a nation where people are poor, but you can see the colors and
the beauty of poverty, not misery." |
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What'd she think of the designers showing at KFW?
"The designer who stood out was Adnan Pardesy - very new, the
outfits were very challenging to do. In the showcase, I didn't know
who was who, because a lot of designers didn't show their full collection
- Maheen, Rizwan Beyg, Amir Adnan etc."
Bibi credits her success as a designer to the fame she garnered
in her modeling years. "Modeling made me travel and mature,"
she says, "and it's the media who made Bibi today. I went to
fashion school abroad, modeled, but I always knew that I would give
my support to the grass roots. The world media has been very supportive.
I showed my first collection in 1996, and I had 29 channels showing
my clothes." I ask her how her years as a model have helped
her as a designer. As a model that was the pick of designers to
model haute couture, she would ask questions through the endless
fittings she went through. She speaks with obvious fondness about
her years as a model, with anecdotes about Valentino's assistant
almost throwing her out of the office since she couldn't believe
Valentino had asked for Bibi specifically to model haute couture,
and her first shoot for him with Jerry Hall and Iman, and how she
cut off her hair to the consternation of her modeling agency for
her last shoot for Toyota.
Having recently opened a store in Dhaka, she waxed lyrical about
the colors and accessories available at the store. With a range
including wrapping paper to bangles to entire outfits - Bibi wants
to make fashion affordable so that everyone can wear 'Bibi Russell'.
Why did it take her so long to open an outlet? "I wasn't ready
to open up initially. In Bangladesh - and maybe here as well - there
are 5 to 6 big occasions such as Eid, New Year etc where shops do
business. Stores should sell throughout the year because sustainable
income for the workers is important. At my store, I work with 15
colors - 5 colors for every 3 months. The accessories, dresses etc
are all in those - so you can mix and match. Other than that I have
candles, jute and wrapping paper in 14 colors - so there's nothing
you are forced to buy. I realized that there are a lot of people
- especially the people in the village - who wanted me to have a
shop in Bangladesh. Also, the people who are marketing my brand
in Europe are opening 5 shops there, and I wanted to open a shop
in Bangladesh before that happens!"
She cites examples of only using local textiles in a country she
is developing a collection for, she also talks about the importance
of prêt to make fashion more affordable, relevant to young
people and a source of income to the hundreds of workers who are
employed by designers. The logic she employs does make practical
sense, and one hopes designers take note. While Bibi Russell's pride
as a Bangladeshi, and her support for Asian fashion is undeniable,
at the same time her enthusiasm for humanitarian work through fashion
is an interesting mix that has definitely put her on the world fashion
map!
How does one of the world's former supermodels morph into a humble,
soft-spoken designer who believes passionately in socio economic
development? Just ask Bibi!
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