[1] Russell did not reveal much about his early life, although an article in The Sydney Morning Herald of 1953 states that before embarking on a career in fashion he was a horse rancher in Saskatchewan, Canada, a rubber planter in Malaya and a farmer in Norfolk, England.

[2] An article in the 1948 edition of Shopping placed his background in rural Norfolk and revealed he had served in the Royal Field Artillery in World War I before being injured.

[3] The article also stated that he first developed his design skills while working in Malaysia, initially by assisting the wife of a fellow rubber planter in creating a gown for the government house ball.

[6] Nonetheless, his attention to detail meant his client list was said to include royalty and London's best-dressed women and many stores across the Commonwealth would buy Peter Russell collections unseen.

At his twice-yearly fashion shows, he was described as marching up and down the showroom providing a running commentary: "turning the girls this way and that if necessary, and generally explaining down to the last button just what goes to make a Peter Russell model.

[12] He supported fashion's role in the war effort, championing utility principles and featuring in morale-boosting promotional photographs issued by the Ministry of Information.

In a letter to the director general of the Board of Trade he suggested that it had made a vast improvement to fashion because it had taught people about discipline in dress and helped them appreciate simplicity.

[14] One of his last commitments, in March 1953, was to be photographed with the so-called "big ten" designers (by this time numbering eleven) for a lavish feature in Life magazine about the preparations for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth.

[8] It was also announced he would settle in the suburb of Ivanhoe, Victoria in a Spanish style villa where he would be in close proximity to both the mills he was advising and also the Lilydale and Melbourne hunts.