Fashion icon Keri Craig-Lee and daughter Cartier Lee dressed for success

Money is no object but success is all about hard work for fashion doyenne Keri Craig-Lee and her budding actor daughter Cartier Lee, writes Kylie Lang.

SHE has been mistaken for the girlfriend of Leo – as in DiCaprio – and her Hollywood agent also represents Academy Award nominee Rachel McAdams.

Her music manager is Randy Jackson, American Idol judge and a bass guitarist who has played with Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan.

Cartier Lee in New York.

But for Cartier Lee, the 20-year-old daughter of one of Queensland’s wealthiest families, the road to success isn’t paved with gold.

Yes, her parents – fashion designer Keri Craig and beef baron Trevor Lee – have bankrolled her countless trips to the US since she was 12.

And yes, they’ve set her up in a Manhattan apartment since her graduation from St Margaret’s in Brisbane in 2015 and was accepted into New York’s prestigious Tisch School of the Arts, alumni of which include film makers Martin Scorsese and Oliver Stone.

However, the day to day is a hard slog.

“The misconception is that all this has come easily to me,” says Cartier, home for a fleeting visit and wearing a lacy skirt reminiscent of her mother’s feminine designs.

“Had I known it would be so difficult, I don’t know if I’d have done it. I get up at 5am, do a two-hour workout, then dialect, singing and dance classes, audition prep, and learning lines – all day I’m working, and I don’t go to bed until midnight.”

Cartier met her Hollywood agent, Shelley Browning of Magnolia Entertainment, by chance in a hair salon at the age of 14.

It was a “classic LA story”, she says. “We were both getting our hair done and she became my mentor, and Mum trusts her”.

“Shelley is always putting me up for big roles – I only want to be the lead or supporting actress – and she believes in real actors; there are so many average actors, and I want to be extraordinary,” she says.

Cartier Lee at home in Ascot in 2013.

Through Browning, Cartier attended an intensive workshop three years ago with celebrated acting coach Larry Moss.

“I was the youngest in the class, at 17, and everyone was somebody, but they were all super low-key.

“I went up to Larry Moss at the end and thanked him for the class, and he’s like, ‘Oh yeah, Leo’s girlfriend’, and I’m like, ‘Pardon?’ and he’s like, ‘Leonardo’s girlfriend … DiCaprio’.

“I didn’t get Leo’s phone number, damn it!” she says.

While acting is her first love, Cartier also writes songs and DJs.

Performing as DJ Pebbles, her 2017 dance hit Heart Away From You, produced by Randy Jackson, reached No. 40 on the US Billboard Hot 100, a not insignificant achievement for a Brisbane teenager.

Her Instagram account, with 50,000 followers, portrays a privileged lifestyle.

There she is in the Caribbean reclining on her parents’ $25 million, 54m superyacht, the Keri Lee III.

There she is sipping mojitos at The Peninsula Hotel in New York. And there she is doing yoga on the lush lawn of her family’s opulent home, Sutherland, in Ascot.

But there are sacrifices too.

“I kind of get lonely, and then I come back here and see a different life I could have chosen, a very beautiful, family-oriented life, and then I have to go back on my own and give up everything for probably a one-in-a-million chance of making it,” Cartier says.

“I remember meeting Adam Levine (lead singer of band Maroon 5 and coach onThe Voice US) in an LA recording studio when I was 12, and I was so excited and said, ‘please give me some advice; I want to be an actress and a singer’, and he was like, ‘Pick another career, you seem like a really nice girl’.”

Her mum Keri adds: “I didn’t know who he was and asked him to make me a cup of coffee!

“And I loved it when she said to him, ‘Hi, I’m Cartier’, and he said, ‘Yeah, and I’m Rolex’. So funny.”

Last year, Cartier met Levine again.

“I was DJ-ing at Coachella (a music festival in California) and he came up and said, ‘You didn’t listen to me!’ ”

Cartier says that without the unflinching support of her parents – who “bought into my dream” – and her grandmother, Dianne Craig, who, with Keri, accompanied her on all her trips as a schoolgirl, she would have pulled the pin.

Keri Craig-Lee, daughter Cartier Craig-Lee and grandmother Dianne Craig at home in Ascot in March 2018. Picture: AAP Image/Josh Woning.

“I doubt myself so much because there is always someone prettier and more talented, and America is such a big pot, so having someone by your side telling you that you can do this is amazing.

“Everywhere we go everyone is always kind of like enthralled because it is very rare to have three generations that are so close.”

At Sutherland on a humid Brisbane afternoon, preparations are in full swing for an Asian-themed dinner party.

Chinese lanterns are being hung in the grand foyer, chefs are folding duck pancakes in the marble kitchen, and permanent staff are making sure the house – and its ladies – are looking their best.

On hand is Richard de Chazal – flamboyant stylist and photographer to Queensland A-listers in the 1990s – with hair brushes, face powder and lipsticks.

Pooches Chanel and Princess are pattering about in their diamante collars, the silver is gleaming, and the chandeliers sparkling.

There is such a significant collection of art on the walls, it’s hard to know where to look, and in the media room, a 1991 photograph signed by Frank Sinatra wishes Dianne a happy birthday, with love. This is a lifestyle afforded to few, yet Keri Craig-Lee is a gracious host.

Elegant in white pants and a pale-pink cable sweater, she offers water, then tea, then a martini.

Sipping drinks in the billiard room, the three women chat about their respective journeys, which brings us to the book. Not just any book but a 7.5kg self-published tome called The Label, The Lady, The Lifestyle.

Released late last year to mark Keri’s 40 years in fashion, copies have been sent around the world, including to Melania Trump, wife of US President Donald (“a charming dinner party companion”, says Keri), and various European princes.

The $275 book catalogues an impressive career, which began when 19-year-old Keri, fresh from a Rotary Scholarship in Wisconsin, designed her first range for her parents’ label, Fifth Avenue Frocks.

“We took a chance with Keri,” Dianne recalls, “but her range worked and eventually (husband) Peter and I went (into business) with her.”

Keri’s parents and brother Jason still work in Keri Craig Emporium, in the historic Brisbane Arcade.

Over the years, Keri has designed wedding dresses for everyone from her friend and former TV personality Jacki MacDonald to Elton John’s bride, Renate Blauel, in 1984.

As pictured in the coffee table book Keri Craig - The Label, The Lady, The Lifestyle, the Craig-Lee family:, clockwise from bottom left Harrison Craig Lee, Michael Lee, Anthony Lee, Keri Craig-Lee, Trevor Lee, Cartier Lee.

She has lunched with Prince Philip, danced with Prince Charles, and last year received a Medal of the Order of Australia for her service to the clothing manufacturing sector, business, and the community.

A stalwart member of the Retailers’ Association of Queensland, Keri is also involved in her husband’s meat supply business, Australian Country Choice, the fifth-largest private business in Queensland.

A key motivation for the book was to record history for her children – Cartier, Harrison, and stepsons Anthony and Michael.

“A friend suggested I write a book and I said, ‘nah’, and he said, ‘do your children know what you did?’ and I said, ‘no, not really, because when Harrison was in grade 5, someone asked what his parents did and he said, ‘oh, my father’s a butcher and my mother’s a has-been fashion designer’,” she says with a laugh.

The book is full of glowing tributes, including from Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Queensland Governor Paul de Jersey, and glamorous gowns in equally glamorous locations.

Cartier is so impressed she keeps a copy of it on her coffee table in New York.

“Until I saw Mum’s book, I didn’t really understand how great she was,” Cartier says.

“I’ve seen the rewards that working hard can reap – it’s comforting, especially in my field, which is so heartbreaking on a daily basis. It’s nice to know I can do it because my mum and my grandma did it.”

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