Half a decade ago, her label Elle B Zhou appeared at Paris Fashion Week and her handbag collection at London Fashion Week.
A conman whom she first met at a fitness center had stolen her identity in a complex scam and charged some $1.3 million to her business.
Despite knowing she was not responsible for the crime, Mambetov was kept in prison for more than two years because she was deemed a flight risk.
“America has its own racism and issues but, what I experienced in the United Kingdom was a very different level and widely spread form of racism,” she told Religion News Service.
Sometimes in her cell, she said, she contemplated suicide.
Mambetov is seeking legal action due to her ordeal and says she still suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
His father had been a Crimea language media personality and before the Russian occupation he had pursued a creative career of his own.
“As a Christian I was taught you couldn’t marry a non-Christian.
Mambetov converted to Islam not long after, she said, as part of a personal spiritual journey that started when she was still in prison.
She revived her brand Elle B Zhou during Ramadan 2020.
With Quranic verses on display, Allah diamond necklaces for sale and no music pumping through its speakers, Mambetov hoped to put customers in a more reflective mood.
“I wanted to create a space that was more deeply rooted, that was inclusive of all and that was also halal,” she said.
A number of factors, including hidden fees, differing visions for the space and increasing street crime in Los Angeles, led Mambetov to close the location.
I told the people who were interrogating me that this had never happened to me before but they insisted it was ‘routine questioning’ and nothing abnormal,” Mambetov said.
“Most people, when they suffer the setbacks in their industry or life, they move on,” said Selim Mambetov, her husband.