Debra Lee is stepping into the luxury fashion world with the launch of her new designer handbag brand, the Debra Lee Collection, featuring Italian leather handbags priced between $900 and $2,300.
For the longtime entertainment executive, the collection is more than just a business move. It marks the return to a dream she first imagined decades ago, before becoming one of the most influential Black women in media.
Lee recently posed with handbags from the collection as she introduced the line, which was created for what she describes as the “accomplished woman.” Designed and crafted in Italy, the handbags were made to move seamlessly through different moments in a woman’s life while balancing style and function.
The launch arrives three years after Lee released her memoir, I Am Debra Lee, where she reflected on navigating the entertainment industry as a Black woman in executive spaces often dominated by men. The book detailed both the glamour and pressures that came with leading BET Networks for years.
Now, Lee is adding fashion entrepreneur to her résumé.
According to Lee, her passion for fashion started long before the boardrooms and television deals. Both of her grandmothers worked as seamstresses, and her mother taught her how to sew while she was growing up. Even while attending Brown University and later earning degrees from Harvard University and Harvard Law School, fashion remained one of her longtime interests.
“Ever since my college days, I’ve dreamed of a career in fashion, but life took me in another direction,” Lee shared. “I’m very proud of the career I built, but I never gave up on that love of design.”
Her career path eventually led her to BET Networks, where she joined the company in 1986 as general counsel. Over the years, she steadily climbed the ranks, becoming president and CEO in 1996 before taking on the role of chairman and CEO in 2005. Lee remained one of the most recognizable executives in Black entertainment until stepping down in 2018.
Even with decades in media, Lee says the desire to build something personal never faded.
“After more than 30 years in business, I feel ready to take this leap and create something entirely my own,” she explained. “Handbags seemed like the perfect entry point; a limited collection built on the highest quality, equal parts beautiful and functional, designed for women whose style is as distinctive as their ambitions.”
The Debra Lee Collection currently includes four handbag styles: the Debi, the Ava, the Billie Mini, and the Quinn. Each piece is crafted from sustainable calf leather and offered in seasonal colors designed to feel classic yet modern.
With the launch, Lee joins a growing list of Black women executives and entertainers expanding into the luxury fashion space while bringing their personal stories and experiences into the products they create.
