About Deborah Barnet

With an eye for exotic leathers and skins from snake, deer and elk to alligator and ostrich, the creator of “Delphine de Grasse” has stirred an elite audience in Hollywood for the past few years and most recently won over a discerning one in Paris too.

Barnet has a natural talent for transforming a virgin deerskin into a cult handbag, a prized purse. It may just be the way she works the leather—seemingly random cuts, hand stitched and draped like fabric—but most likely it’s the excitement of a new genre she’s created called savage luxe.

It’s safe to say that Karl Lagerfeld doesn’t look twice at most women in jeans. Barnet credits her hand-made bag for attracting his recent stare down on Rodeo Drive. “I was thrilled,” she says, “at the quiet compliment.” In only a few seasons, her accessories line, has caught many fashionable eyes from Naomi Watts, Patricia Arquette and Jennifer Aniston to Demi Moore, Cindy Crawford and Erin Wasson. The native Angelino’s raw one-of-a-kind bags, belts and jewelry sell at specialty boutiques throughout the country and will expand to Europe, Japan and Dubai in the coming months.