There is little the fashion industry loves more than combining the new and exciting with a rich sense of privilege and heritage. So it should come as no surprise that luxury brands are as enamoured by nepo babies as they once were by conveniently beautiful actors and musicians. And luckily, the latter these days are increasingly likely to also be the former.
Many of them – take Maude and Iris Apatow, Dakota Johnson, Riley Keough, Maya Hawke and Zoë Kravitz – are highly talented in their own right, but it is hard to deny that their famous heritage makes them that bit more interesting. After all, who among us doesn’t want to know what it’s like to be brought up by Uma Thurman or mum-daughter styled with Cindy Crawford?
And let’s face it. A famous parent clearly helps open doors – in a world where beautiful young models are 10 a penny (and famously difficult to interview) everyone wants to hear from a Kaia Gerber, a Lila Moss or an Iris Law.
Hence, young women (and the occasional young man) who are yet to achieve much professionally, getting hugely coveted roles as ambassadors for major luxury brands. Apple Martin – daughter of Gwyneth Paltrow – was in prime position at Chanel in January this year, dressed head to toe in the brand alongside Lucy Boynton, Sadie Sink and Angèle, despite being just 18 years old and having expressed little interest in the fashion industry.
Lily-Rose Depp has also been modelling for Chanel since her early adolescence and was famously a favourite of Karl Lagerfeld’s, opening and closing his shows while she was still at school.
In fact, these days it’s difficult to name a brand that doesn’t have an “offspring of” on their books. Jude Law’s daughter Iris is the face of Versace; Georgia May Jagger is fronting the latest Burberry campaign; Leni Klum is a Dior model, Esther McGregor, daughter of Ewan, has worked with Miu Miu; Lila Moss has been hired by YSL Beauty; and Hailey Bieber has fronted campaigns for Saint Laurent.
And it’s not just the girls: Paris Brosnan, son of Pierce, is an off-and-on model for Ralph Lauren and Balmain and shot a Korean GQ cover with brother Dylan; James Turlington, nephew of Christy, works with Ralph Lauren, and Mingus Reedus, son of Helena Christensen, is a Versace model.
All are undeniably good looking – and, happily for them, strongly resemble their famous relatives – but working with a nepo baby gives fashion brands access to more than just good genes.
“There is a level of trust they can provide through their parents,” says Hikmat Mohammed, an editor for trade publication WWD. “Brands always want to play it safe; fashion is such a homogenous community and industry, and by inviting in the children of famous people, they can almost guarantee engagement and good behaviour, as these kids know they’re representing their parents as well as themselves.”
Some connections owe more to nepotism than others – the Hadid sisters have easily eclipsed their mother Yolanda’s fame, as has Kendall Jenner, whose face is now better known than all her relatives bar Kim Kardashian.
Others got an obvious parental leg-up: Kaia Gerber, Lily-Rose Depp and Georgia May Jagger are all independently very successful now but were accompanied by their supermodel mothers for their first catwalk shows when they were relative unknowns.
And then there are the nepo babies who will never quite attain their parents’ status: Lila Moss has been signed by, surprise surprise, Kate Moss’ modelling agency, and while she does have a few high-profile contracts, one can’t help but feel she owes her career to her famous surname.
“The process usually starts by making the nepo baby a ‘friend of the brand’ rather than an ambassador,” says Mohammed. “The brand invites them to the show alongside their celebrity parent, dresses them for a few events and sees what happens – if it’s worth it, they’ll then make them an offer.”
Of course, there has been a mild internet uproar around all of this. When Depp went so far as to complain to Elle magazine about the term nepo baby, eyes rolled. “Maybe you get your foot in the door, but you still just have your foot in the door. There’s a lot of work that comes after that,” she said. Cue a slew of models responding that getting through said door can be the work of a lifetime for someone without the right genetic heritage.
Still, love them or loathe them, one thing we know is that nepo babies – with their fresh faces and iconic surnames – aren’t going anywhere but upwards.
Note: This story was originally published on SCMP and has been republished on this website.
