Bibi Russell () is a Bangladeshi fashion designer and former international model.

Career

Russell was born in 1950 in

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

to Mokhlessur Rahman and Shamsun Nahar. She grew up in Dhaka studying in Kamrunnessa Govt Girls High School and Later College of Home Economics, Azimpur, Dhaka. She earned a graduate degree in fashion from

London College of Fashion The London College of Fashion is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art university in London, England. The college offers undergraduate and postgraduate study, short courses, study-abroad courses and business t ...

in 1975. In the next five years, she worked as a model for different magazines including Vogue,

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

and

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' (stylized as ''Harper's BAZAAR'') is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. Bazaar has been published in New York City since November 2, 1867, originally as a weekly publication entitled ''Harper's Bazar''."Corporat ...

. She also worked as a fashion model in fashion shows until 1994, working with Yves Saint Laurent, Kenzo, Karl Lagerfeld and

Giorgio Armani Giorgio Armani (; born 11 July 1934) is an Italian fashion designer and a billionaire. He first gained renown working for Cerruti 1881. He formed his company, Armani, in 1975, which eventually expanded into music, sport, and luxury hotels. By 200 ...

. Returning to Bangladesh in 1994, Russell opened a fashion house named Bibi Productions, which fused indigenous Bengali cultural elements into her design. As of 2004, her company employed 35,000 weavers in rural

Fashion shows

With

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

support, Bibi Russell organized her first European fashion show (pioneering event by a South Asian female) in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1996. She also organized fashion show, ''The Colours of Bangladesh'', in Spain in 1997. In 2016, she participated in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

at India Runway Week seventh edition where she presented her latest collection on

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

khadi Khadi (, ), derived from khaddar, is a hand-spun and woven natural fibre cloth promoted by Mahatma Gandhi, Gandhi as Swadeshi movement, ''swadeshi (of homeland)'' for the freedom struggle of India and the term is used throughout the Indian sub ...

. Bibi's collection was celebrated by the

fashion industry Fashion is a term used interchangeably to describe the creation of clothing, footwear, Fashion accessory, accessories, cosmetics, and jewellery of different cultural aesthetics and their mix and match into Clothing, outfits that depict distinct ...

. Recently (in year 2016 & 18), she showcased her collection for the opening show at the third biggest

fashion week A fashion week is a week-long fashion industry event where fashion designers, brands, or "houses" display their latest collections in runway fashion shows to buyers and the media which influences upcoming fashion trends for the current and appro ...

, Indian Federation for Fashion Development's India Runway Week Season 7.

Filmography

* Moner Manush (2009)

Awards

Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Costume Design The Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Costume Design () is one of the highest film awards in Bangladesh. Since 2008, the awards have been given in the category of best choreography. The first award winner was Mohammad Shasmsul Islam. No awar ...

- 2009 for Moner Manush *Russell was rewarded ''Cross of Officer of the Order of Queen Isabella'' by the King of Spain. It was presented by Spanish Ambassador to Bangladesh, Arturo Perez Martinez. Russell is also a Fellow of Bangla Academy. The Asiaweek magazine highlighted her as "One of the 20 people to watch in the Millennium". She was awarded the ''Honorary Fellowship'' of the London Institute in 1999. UNESCO awarded her the title ''Designer for Development'' in 1999. She also got the title of ''Artist for Peace'' by the UNESCO in 2001 and the ''Peace Prize'' by the United Nations Associations of Spain in 2004.

References

External links

Tribute to Bibi Russell and Fashion for Development ProjectUNESCO Wide Angle interview: "Bibi Russell: handicrafts people have magic in their fingers"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Bibi Living people Bangladeshi female models People from Chittagong Bangladeshi women in business Honorary Fellows of Bangla Academy Recipients of Begum Rokeya Padak Bangladeshi fashion Fashion stylists Best Costume Design National Film Award (Bangladesh) winners 1950 births Bangladeshi costume designers Bangladeshi women fashion designers Bangladeshi fashion designers