Published : 21 Aug 2026, 04:01 AM
Updated : 08 Sep 2026, 11:24 AM
In the 1970s, when Bibi Russell left for London to study fashion design, people she knew mocked her for going abroad to become a “tailor”. She woke up at 3:30am to deliver newspapers, studied on a scholarship and graduated from the London College of Fashion as one of its outstanding students.
Then came modelling, almost by accident. She became a face of Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire and other major magazines, worked across Europe, America, Italy and Japan, and encountered cultures and languages far beyond Bangladesh.
But in 1994, she walked away from that glittering world and returned home. Two years later, she founded Bibi Productions with a mission: revive Bengal’s traditional textiles and take them to the global fashion stage.
At 76, that mission remains unfinished. Her greatest ambition now is to restore the lost tradition of muslin -- a task she says is only 20 percent complete.
Russell spoke about that journey in Addanama, Glitz’s interview series hosted by actor Nima Rahman. The third episode aired on Thursday night, with Alok Healthcare and Hospital as a partner. Earlier episodes featured actor Abul Hayat and magician Jewel Aich. The programme is available on bdnews24.com, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.
A Childhood Fascination with Colour
Born in Chattogram in 1950 to Mokhlesur Rahman Sidhu and Shamsunnahar Rahman, Russell grew up in Old Dhaka. As a child, she was fascinated by the colours woven into the lungis and gamchas worn by hawkers and fish sellers who came to their home.
“I used to tell my parents that I have so many pencil colours, but those people who come wearing lungis, gamchas and saris have more beautiful colour combinations than I do,” she recalled.
At Kamrunnessa Government Girls’ High School in Tikatuli, she studied largely just enough to pass, fearing good results would lead her parents to make her a doctor or engineer.
“I was very pampered, my teachers never scolded me, they knew I was restless; you understand, I was a girl who somehow passed there too,” she said.
A book about Coco Chanel, given to her by her father when she was young, strengthened her desire to become a fashion designer.
From ‘Tailor’ to International Model
After college, Russell went to the UK in the early 1970s and enrolled at the London College of Fashion. She paid her way herself.
“I was told your parents didn’t get you married off, you are going to become a tailor. This is a tailor’s job. I used to get up at 3:30am to deliver post. I was a student, so I didn’t have to pay tax, then I would run to college,” she said.
She worked at a post office for six months before winning a private scholarship. “Then I didn’t have to look back,” she said.
Her final-year work was archived by the college, which she described as one of the world’s leading fashion schools. Modelling came unexpectedly after teachers encouraged her to take part in the 1976 graduation show.
The next day, the principal told her Harper’s Bazaar wanted her for a 10-page feature. She initially refused.
But modelling opened another world. “Modelling made me mature, showed me the world, I saw different cultures, learned different languages. I worked with different designers,” she said.
Coming Home
After years abroad, Russell returned in 1994 and established Bibi Productions in 1996 to revive Bengali handloom traditions.
“I know how we can compete with the world, not with anything made by machines,” she said, pointing to Bangladesh’s centuries-old craftsmanship.
Her focus was rural artisans rather than shops and commercial expansion. “I have come back to work to give people a better life, to develop. I work in villages,” she said.
For three decades, she has financed that work herself.
“I have sold everything to fulfil my dream. I don’t have time to take proposals to anyone or hold out my hand. I didn’t grow up begging abroad; I grew up through my own talent,” she said.
‘Muslin Is My Dream’
Russell credits weavers for the revival of Jamdani, warning that machine-made synthetic versions threaten the tradition. “Jamdani is our exquisite heritage, nobody can compete with our Jamdani,” she said.
Her bigger dream is muslin.
“Muslin is like khadi, everything has to be done by hand. From spinning the yarn to everything. Now everything is machine-made yarn. My only dream now is muslin,” she said.
She estimates her progress at 20 percent, adding: “I am working day and night. I do nothing else.”
A Life Shaped by Artists
Russell grew up surrounded by leading figures in Bangladesh’s cultural world, including Rabindrasangeet singer Zahidur Rahim Babu, composer Altaf Mahmud, Sanjida Khatun, Wahidul Haque and Nazrul singer Firoza Begum.
She studied dance under Gowhar Jamil and Rowshan Jamil and violin under Ustad Matiur Rahman Khan. She stopped dancing when her height made her routinely cast as a boy.
She also knew artists Zainul Abedin, Kamrul Hassan and Qayyum Chowdhury from childhood. Ustad Allauddin Khan once visited her Old Dhaka home; she still remembers hearing him give the morning Azan.
‘Fashion for Development’
Russell remains devoted to the saree, which she believes should never disappear from Bengali life.
She has also modelled extensively abroad, appearing in campaigns for leading car brands from Rolls-Royce to Jaguar.
Her life’s philosophy, she says, is simple: “My slogan is -- Fashion for Development.”
Among her most successful products is the humble gamcha. She credits Spanish figures Antonio Banderas, Queen Sofia and former UNESCO director general Federico Mayor with helping popularise it internationally, and says Madonna also owns one. Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan and Tabu have them too.
Russell rejects suggestions that she is detached from her Bengali identity because of her accent or international career.
“I am a girl who studied entirely in Bengali medium. Will I forget my own language?” she said.
Now living alone while her sons and sisters are abroad, she says she still works 16 hours a day.
“I don’t take any sleeping pills to sleep. I don’t even see a doctor. I think, if I die, I die.”
And she continues for the people she says made her dream possible.
“I do research day and night. I try to give a little more to those who made me dream, those who made me who I am today,” Russell said.
