Why luxury fashion brands love nepo babies: from Chanel’s Lily-Rose Depp to supermodels Gigi and Bella Hadid, celebrity kids get ahead thanks to their ‘level of trust’ and parental pulling power

Jul 15 , 2023

The new generation of nepo baby fashion faces: Maya Hawke, Bella Hadid, Lily-Rose Depp and Lila Moss all hail from famous families. Photos: @maya_hawke/Instagram; Getty Images; @lilamoss/Instagram

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.

6 celebrity kids with extravagant luxury watches, from Rolex to Richard Mille

Dakota Johnson and Riley Keough during the Film Independent Spirit Awards in February 2019, in Santa Monica, California. Photo: Getty Images

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.

Gwyneth Paltrow and Apple Martin wearing matching tees. Photo: @monstersbehindmasks/Instagram

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.

Who is Lily-Rose Depp’s girlfriend 070 Shake – and has she met Johnny yet?

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.

Model Iris Law presents a creation at the Burberry catwalk show during London Fashion Week in London, Britain, on February 20. Photo: Reuters

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.

Pierce Brosnan’s sons, Dylan (L) and Paris, are up and coming in the modelling world. Photo: @paris.brosnan/Instagram

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.

Is Hailey Bieber building a business empire to rival the Kardashians’?

“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.”

Yolanda Hadid with her two supermodel daughters, Bella and Gigi. Photo: @yolandahadid/Instagram

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.

Kate Moss with her daughter Lila Grace Moss Hack at the Met Gala. Photo: @katemossagency/Instagram

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.

How to pull off Kendall Jenner’s elegant courtside casual look this summer

“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.”

Lily-Rose Depp poses for photographers at the photocall for the television series The Idol at the 76th international television series festival, in Cannes, southern France, on May 23. Photo: AP

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.

Want more stories like this? Follow Style on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Celebrity children

Many of the world’s most successful models were born into fame – Gigi and Bella Hadid are daughters of Yolanda, and Kendall Jenner was of course once ‘just’ Kim Kardashian’s sister
But there’s a new generation of inherited fame: Gwyneth Paltrow’s daughter Apple Martin sat front row at Chanel, while Kaia Gerber, Georgia May Jagger and Lila Moss all have model mums