Precious Lee

Precious Lee is an American model from Atlanta, born on September 13, 1990, who became the first Black curve model to walk for Versace and who appeared in Rihanna's Savage X Fenty lingerie shows in 2021 and 2022. In a decade when lingerie brands were finally casting larger bodies, she was one of the models who made that change visible on the runway.

An open call at Clark Atlanta

Lee did not set out to model. As a student at Clark Atlanta University she went to an Elite Models open call to keep a friend company and came away with a contract offer of her own. She did catalog work part time while finishing her degree. After graduating she moved to New York and signed with Ford Models, with law school as the fallback if modeling failed. She has named Crystal Renn and Toccara Jones as the plus-size models who showed her the career was possible.

The Versace runway

Her best-known runway moment came at Versace's spring 2021 show, presented in September 2020, where she was the first Black curve model the house had cast. Versace is a house known for body-conscious clothes, so her walk mattered to a broader argument about who gets to wear that kind of fashion. Her runway list has since grown to include Fendi, Mugler, Lanvin, Tommy Hilfiger, Balmain, Michael Kors and Moschino, and she has modeled couture for Jean Paul Gaultier.

Two Savage X Fenty shows

Vol. 3, Los Angeles, 2021

Lee's lingerie work centers on Savage X Fenty, the brand Rihanna launched in 2018. She was in the cast of Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3, filmed at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles and released on Prime Video in September 2021. The lineup mixed former Victoria's Secret Angels such as Behati Prinsloo and Adriana Lima with dancers, drag performers and curve models.

Vol. 4, Simi Valley, 2022

She returned for Vol. 4 in 2022, filmed in Simi Valley in Ventura County, California, alongside Cara Delevingne, Irina Shayk, Joan Smalls and Lara Stone. Appearing in two consecutive editions put her among the show's regular faces at the point when the format was the clearest rival to the old Victoria's Secret broadcast.

Covers and recognition

Her magazine covers include American Vogue, British Vogue, Vogue Arabia, Vogue Brazil, Vogue Portugal, Vogue Netherlands, Italian Vogue twice and Harper's Bazaar. Models.com nominated her as a Breakout Star in 2020 and as Model of the Year in 2021, and GQ Portugal named her International Model of the Year in 2022. She also has a long-term partnership with YSL Beauty, and in 2021 she made her acting debut in the Starz series "Run the World".

Last updated October 7, 2026