Christopher Belt is a three time top award winning handbag designer and owner of the Estate of Barbara Cook.  Christopher is the widow of Adam LeGrant - son of Barbara Cook + David LeGrant - leaving Christopher the last living person in the family’s theatre dynasty.

He has been a ghost designer for the American handbag industry’s top brands and is known for detail innovation by the clients he designs for.  Many industry professionals have called him the industries best kept secret.

Christopher’s namesake collection is produced by invitation only and therefore not much is known about it. What is known is that they have been photographed on Rihanna, Jessie J, and Jon Kortajarena and pieces from his brand have been in the closets of Madonna, Ava Max and Kesha. Many owners of his private collection are on the Time Magazines list of top 100 world’s most influential people, including the most powerful celebrity of 2011.

According to interviews with Christopher he “Grew up in the rural timberlands of Arkansas. He is the son of a carpenter father as well as a mother who was a fork lift driver before retirement. Christopher is very close to his Grandmother, Angela. Angela grew up the oldest of 12 on a tomato farm in South Arkansas and was the first to go to college in the history of the family. In interviews Christopher has also accredited his success to the sacrifices Angela made to ensure he could compete with young designers from legacy families.

From the tree farm in Arkansas Belt moved to Georgia to attend the prestigious Savannah College of Art and Design and received a B.F.A. in Accessory Design.  His first brand was launched in 2013, one year after moving to New York City.  Christopher met his first investor in passing at an internship.  The line was shown at Mercedes Benz Fashion week at Lincoln Center.

In 2015 he took a job at a major vendor within the mass market where it was first discovered his design acumen could produce such unprecedented revenue.

The SVP of Neiman Marcus, Ken Downing, who also discovered Zac Posen, presented Christopher with the Best Retail Bag award for Neiman Marcus. That same night, Christopher won two more awards, taking home three of the seven categories - a reigning record to this day for most awards presented to a single recipient in one year.  

The awards were:

  • The Best Retail Handbag Presented by Neiman Marcus 2017

  • The Bernina Best Handmade Handbag 2017

  • The Perfect Everyday Work Tote Bag by Aimee Kestenberg 2017

In 2020 and 2024 the Accessories Council bestowed a nomination upon Christopher.

The category was:

  • Best Handbag Under $1,000 2020

That nomination tipped the scales - making Belt the most decorated handbag designer in his industry.