Dee Ocleppo Hilfiger (; formerly Ocleppo; born November, 24 1966) is an American fashion designer and

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

. She was married from 1997 to 2003 to

Gianni Ocleppo Gianni Ocleppo (; born 6 April 1957) is a retired Italian tennis player. He has two children: one of them, Julian Ocleppo (born 1997), is a professional tennis player, by former wife Dee Ocleppo. Career Ocleppo won one ATP Tour singles title ( ...

, with whom she had two children, including

Julian Ocleppo Julian Ocleppo (born 1 August 1997) is an Italian tennis player. Ocleppo is the son of former tennis professional Gianni Ocleppo and his wife Dee. He has a career high ATP singles ranking of 309 achieved on 24 February 2020. He also has a caree ...

. Since 2008, she has been married to fashion designer

Tommy Hilfiger Thomas Jacob Hilfiger ( ; born March 24, 1951) is an American fashion designer and the founder of Tommy Hilfiger (company), Tommy Hilfiger Corporation. After starting his career by co-founding a chain of jeans/fashion stores called People's P ...

Early life and education

Hilfiger was born Deniz Caroline Erbuğ in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, to Vedat Erbuğ, a Turkish-born

radiologist Radiology ( ) is the medical specialty that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide treatment within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography (which is why its name has a root referring to radiation), but tod ...

, and Patricia Erbuğ (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Seitter; b. 1944), a British microbiologist. Both of her parents moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to pursue their academic careers. She was raised in

East Greenwich, Rhode Island East Greenwich is a New England town, town and the county seat of Kent County, Rhode Island, Kent County, Rhode Island. The population was 14,312 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. East Greenwich is the wealthiest municipality within ...

. She completed a degree in communications at

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Career

Los Angeles-based photographer,

videographer Videography involves capturing moving images on electronic media (such as: videotape, direct to disk recording, or solid state storage), and can include streaming media. It encompasses both video production and post-production methods. Histori ...

, and

talent manager A talent manager (also known as an artist manager, band manager, or music manager) is an individual who guides the professional career of Entertainer, artists within the entertainment industry. The responsibility of a talent manager is to ove ...

Jean Renard discovered Ocleppo Hilfiger and encouraged her to pursue modeling. Renard also discovered and managed the career of

Niki Taylor Nicole Renee Taylor (born March 5, 1975) is an American model and has hosted for television. Early life Taylor was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Ken and Barbara Taylor, a highway patrol lieutenant and a photographer, respectively. She was r ...

. In recent years, Ocleppo Hilfiger has become most known for creating and serving as lead designer of the eponymous luxury accessory label Dee Ocleppo, which includes a line of handbags with interchangeable features.

Dee Ocleppo Label

Ocleppo Hilfiger initially suggested that her husband, Tommy Hilfiger, consider a line for his own iconic eponymous brand. However, Hilfiger convinced his wife to embark on creating a line of vintage-style luxury handbags under her own label. Among stylistic influencers of Ocleppo Hilfiger's label, she credits

Lauren Hutton Lauren Hutton (born Mary Laurence Hutton; November 17, 1943) is an American model and actress. Born and raised in the southern United States, Hutton relocated to New York City in her early adulthood to begin a modeling career. Though she was ini ...

Grace Kelly Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982), also known as Grace of Monaco, was an American actress and Princess of Monaco as the wife of Prince Rainier III from their marriage on April 18, 1956, until her death in 1982. ...

and her friend

Iris Apfel Iris Apfel ( ; ; August 29, 1921March 1, 2024) was an American businesswoman, interior designer, and fashion designer, known for her flamboyant style, outspoken personality and oversized eyeglasses. In business with her husband, Carl, from 1950 ...

. Under the auspices of D.H. Designs LLC and with encouragement from

HSN HSN, Inc. an initialism of its former name Home Shopping Network, is an American free-to-air television network owned by the QVC Group (formerly Qurate Retail Group), which also owns Catalog merchant, catalog company Cornerstone Brands. It is ...

's CEO

Mindy Grossman Mindy Grossman (born September 8, 1957) is the former CEO of WW International (formerly Weight Watchers). Her earlier career included executive roles at Ralph Lauren Corporation and Nike, and she was also CEO of HSN from 2006 - 2017. She has ...

, Ocleppo Hilfiger launched her accessory line in 2012, selling her first handbag to the mega-retail luxury department store

Harrods Harrods is a Listed building, Grade II listed luxury department store on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It was designed by C. W. Stephens for Charles Digby Harrod, and opened in 1905; it replaced the first store on the ground ...

. She then opened a showroom at

Trump Tower Trump Tower is a 58-story, mixed-use condominium skyscraper at 721–725 Fifth Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, between East 56th and 57th Streets. The building contains the headquarters for the Trump Organiza ...

in Manhattan and more recently at

Galeries Lafayette Galeries Lafayette () is an upmarket French department store chain, the biggest in Europe. Its flagship store is on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris but it now operates a number of locations in France and other countries ...

's flagship store in Paris. In 2015, she launched Bag bar, which is a custom accessory system for classic handbags, which was purchased by

Kate Spade Katherine Noel Valentine Brosnahan Spade (born Katherine Noel Brosnahan; December 24, 1962 – June 5, 2018) was an American fashion designer and entrepreneur. She was the co-founder and co-owner of the designer brand Kate Spade New York. E ...

and Company. In January 2017, Ocleppo Hilfiger announced that the Dee Ocleppo brand would partner with the

Judith Leiber Judith Leiber (born Judit Pető; January 11, 1921 – April 28, 2018) was a Hungarian-American fashion designer and businesswoman. Life and career Leiber was born Judit Pető in 1921 in Budapest, Hungary, to Helene, a Vienna-born homemaker, and ...

label. As the new co-owner, she will become the brand's creative director and serve as its global ambassador.

Awards

In 2016, Ocleppo Hilfiger was presented with the "Rising Star Award" by

Fashion Group International The Fashion Group International (FGI) is a global, non-profit, professional organization founded in 1930 in New York City to benefit the fashion industry. FGI currently has over 5000 members in the fashion industry including apparel, accessories, b ...

, the global nonprofit authority on trending apparel, accessories, as well as beauty merchandise and home products. Celebrities who have been photographed/carrying with Dee Ocleppo handbags in recent years in include

Pippa Middleton Philippa Charlotte Matthews (née Middleton; born 6 September 1983) is a British socialite, author and columnist. She is the younger sister of Catherine, Princess of Wales. Born in Reading, Berkshire and raised in Bucklebury, Middleton atte ...

Olivia Palermo Olivia Palermo (born February 28, 1986) is an American socialite, fashion influencer, Entrepreneurship, entrepreneur, model (person), model and celebrity, television personality. Early life Olivia Palermo was born on February 28, 1986, in Ne ...

, Beyonce,

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer and songwriter. A classically trained pianist, Keys began composing songs at the age of 12 and was signed by Columbia Records at 15. After d ...

. In 2015, Ocleppo Hilfiger was awarded The National Mother’s Day Committee’s "Outstanding Mother Awards" along with Liz Rodbell,

Joanna Coles Joanna Louise Coles (born 20 April 1962) is the Chief Creative and Content Officer for ''The Daily Beast''. She served as chief content officer for Hearst Magazines from 2016 to 2018. She has won awards for journalism, including, when she was ...

, and

Meredith Vieira Meredith Louise Vieira (born December 30, 1953) is an American broadcast journalist and Celebrity, television personality. She is best known as the original moderator of the daytime talk show ''The View (talk show), The View'' (1997–2006), the ...

. On

Mother's Day Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, most commonly in Mar ...

2013, Ocleppo Hilfiger was the honored recipient of the "Moms 4 Mom" award by

Autism Speaks Autism Speaks Inc. is an American non-profit autism awareness organization and the largest autism research organization in the United States. It sponsors autism research and conducts awareness and outreach activities aimed at families, governm ...

in celebration of motherhood and

autism Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

advocacy.

Personal life

Deniz Carolina Erbug met pop star

Mick Hucknall Michael James Hucknall (born 8 June 1960) is an English singer and songwriter. Hucknall achieved international fame in the 1980s as the lead singer and songwriter of the soul-influenced pop band Simply Red, with whom he enjoyed a 25-year caree ...

while she was in college, dating for two years during the 1990s. At the age of 26 she married

, an Italian tennis player, with whom she had had two sons, including

, raising them in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

. They divorced in 2003. Ocleppo met Hilfiger while vacationing with her two sons in

Saint Tropez Saint-Tropez ( , ; ) is a commune in the Var department and the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Southern France. It is west of Nice and east of Marseille, on the French Riviera, of which it is one of the best-known towns. In 2018 ...

in the summer of 2005. A friendship evolved and the couple celebrated an engagement in New York City attended by numerous celebrities and public figures including

Russell Simmons Russell Wendell Simmons (born October 4, 1957) is an American entrepreneur, writer and record executive. He co-founded the hip-hop label Def Jam Recordings, and created the clothing fashion lines Phat Farm, Argyleculture, and Tantris. He has p ...

Anna Wintour Dame Anna Wintour ( ; born 3 November 1949) is a British-American media executive, who has been serving as editor-in-chief of '' Vogue'' since 1988. Wintour has also served as global chief content officer of Condé Nast since 2020, where she o ...

, and

Harvey Weinstein Harvey Weinstein (, ; born March 19, 1952) is an American film producer and convicted sex offender. In 1979, Weinstein and his brother, Bob Weinstein, co-founded the entertainment company Miramax, which produced several successful independent ...

. The Hilfigers married in 2008. Their son was born in 2009. Ocleppo Hilfiger is the mother of seven children and step children, and is a proponent of The Family Dinner Project in an effort to "revive the lost art of dinner conversation." According to her website, she encourages family discussion and discourse without the interruption of cell phones, as one small way families can build cohesion and open dialogue in an age when technology can impede family communication.

References

External links

Official biography at deeocleppo.com

Official Fan Page

Twitter

Instagram: @mrshilfiger
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oclrppo, Dee Living people American people of Turkish descent Female models from Ohio Models from Cleveland American fashion designers American women fashion designers 1966 births Lincoln School (Providence, Rhode Island) alumni 21st-century American women Southern Methodist University alumni