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Elle B. Mambetov      

Fashion Designer, Author & Activist For Prison Reform

Elle B. Mambetov is an innovative designer in the modest fashion industry with a boutique in Beverly Hills, California and a Farfetch partner making exclusives for the fashion platform. The Texas native has traveled the world and built brands in foreign lands, becoming a London Fashion Week designer at the age of 26. Then Mambetov was falsely arrested and spent two years in a maximum security prison in the United Kingdom - innocent.

The book "A6347DW: American Captive" chronicles Mambetov's experience as an American fashion designer locked away and trapped in a foreign prison after being arrested without a warrant. She continued to be held in a maximum security prison at the order of the HMP Bronzefield warden despite government release orders. Having first called the police herself on her accusers, the police penned a case of fraud against the designer, ignoring the 5-count confession of a suspect and once close friend to the designer.

Mambetov faced police corruption, perjury, racism, prison life and sexual misconduct by an HM prison staff member for two years until she was finally released. She struggled to rediscover her creativity and thought she would never design again, yet she persevered. She has since married and converted to Islam, re-launching her brand in May of 2020 during Ramadan.

Mambetov shows how an African American female can go from the catwalk to the confines of prison, cross borders, break barriers and bounce back after each pitfall to create her womenswear brand Elle B Zhou.

News

Designer, Elle B Mambetov, On Racism In British Justice System
London Fashion Week Designer Elle B Mambetov, founder of fashion line Elle B Zhou, 35, talks to GLAMOUR’s Elle Turner about the racism and corruption she encountered at the hands of the British justice system.
Fashion Designer Confronts Racism In Her Upcoming PBS Documentary
Following spending 2 years unjustly in a foreign prison, the unbelievable story of fashion designer Elle B. Mambetov, is currently being filmed for the new PBS series “American Portrait.” Elle is poised to change the perception of modest fashion into something truly unique and sophisticated with the virtual presentation of her luxury womenswear brand, Elle B. Zhou on May 22nd.
Fashion designer Elle B. Mambetov on rebuilding her life and fashion label
Following the recent relaunch of her luxury womenswear brand in May, African-American Muslim fashion designer Elle B. Mambetov of the label Elle B. Zhou—who spent two years unjustly in a prison in the UK, an experience she wrote about in her book A6347DW: American Captive—spoke with Vogue over email about the role an American Girl doll played in her career in fashion and how she’s rebuilt her label and her life following her imprisonment.
How Designer Elle Mambetov Started Again After Being Falsely Imprisoned Abroad
In November 2016, Elle Mambetov was reveling from London Fashion Week high after showcasing her luxury line Elle B. Zhou’s Spring/Summer 2017 collection during the annual event, when her London flat was bombarded by four police officers. Without a warrant, officers arrested Mambetov removing her from her home for good and leaving her flat and the remainder of her belongings.
From Fashion Week To False Imprisonment, Black Designer Elle B. Mambetov Has Been Through It All
In 2016, all of Elle Mambetov’s dreams were finally coming true. She was one of London Fashion Week’s fastest-rising stars and, after just two seasons in the limelight, her womenswear label—Elle B Zhou—was tipped as one to watch. When three police officers turned up to arrest her that November, however, the dream turned into a nightmare.

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