Meet the new generation of nepo baby models

Telegraph

08-05-2025

Oh to be a nepo baby, blessed with a foot in the door as well as a silver spoon in the mouth. If you're wondering why so many currently seem to be proliferating in the modelling world, it's likely because – like black – they're seen as a safe bet. In challenging economic times, safe bets are prized by brands for obvious reasons.
'Nepo models have inherent influence, thanks to the established fan bases their family legacy brings,' says Sarah Crawley, founder of marketing agency The Good Influence. 'Audiences are curious – and therefore engaged – as to how they'll carve a career and find their niche, and whether they can outgrow their 'nepo' gift. It's definitely a blessing for them when played well, but can lead to unwelcome column inches and social click bait when it doesn't play out as hoped. In a world where we're craving nostalgia, they also offer cross generational appeal. They can speak to both a boomer audience who may have grown up with their parents and a Gen Z audience at the same time.'
Nepo babies have always existed, even if the term only became popular at the tail end of 2022, courtesy of New York magazine's impactful cover story offering 'a definitive guide to the Hollywood nepo-verse'. Suddenly, these bright young things were everywhere. They themselves were divided on the term. Some (Lily-Rose Depp) rejected the label as sexist and dismissive of their talents. Others (Hailey Bieber) wore a Nepo Baby T-shirt.
While it's questionable whether acting ability can be passed through the generations, the trajectory of good genes is more linear. If your mother is Cindy Crawford and your father is Rande Gerber, the odds are low that you'll be born looking like a troll. Even if she hadn't had a leg up, Kaia Gerber would likely have been scouted umpteen times in her local mall. Her most recent coup: starring alongside her mother, 59, in a Zara campaign, where they present their 'perfect edit'.
Now 23, Gerber, like Lila Moss, is one of the most prominent models born into fame working today. But there are others. Many, many others. Some are just starting out. Some may yet change course and end up as phlebotomists. Whatever their career trajectory, you can bet they won't be schlepping round their local cities on go-sees. Here's a guide to the new nepo models on the block.
Sunday Rose Kidman Urban
While her face may not yet be familiar, her surnames surely are. The progeny of actress Nicole Kidman and country music star Keith Urban has hard launched herself into the modelling world by opening the Miu Miu show, thus bagging the most prestigious slot in one of the most prestigious shows of the season. Sunday Rose, 16, made her debut in Paris last October, and walked again for Miu Miu in March - despite her 'overprotective' dad allegedly wanting her to hold off from entering the fashion industry until she's older.
Kai Schreiber
The Valentino show always draws a starry front row, but Naomi Watts ' presence was more significant than most. The Australian actress (and good friend of Nicole Kidman) was there not solely to marvel at the clothes, but also at her 16 year old daughter, Kai, who was making her modelling debut. She did well, even achieving the impossible: making a lace skull cap look good. Kai's father, the actor Liev Schrieber, parted ways with Watts in 2016 after 11 years, but the two remain committed parents who have staunchly supported Kai, who is transgender, through her transition.
Scarlett White
It's not too tricky to figure out the identity of her father: she's his spitting image. White Stripes' frontman Jack White is the proud dad of 18-year-old Scarlett, whose start in modelling was made all the easier by the fact that her mother is the supermodel Karen Elson. Born in Oldham, Elson currently resides in Nashville, where Scarlett was raised. She made her debut modelling for Zara, and is also splashed across the current issue of Vogue, shot alongside her mum by the renowned photographer, Annie Leibowitz. In the accompanying interview, she chats fondly about growing up with VIP access to Elson's 'treasure trove' of vintage clothes.
The Gallagher brothers
Named after his father's favourite Beatle, 25 year-old Lennon – son of Oasis's Liam Gallagher – has appeared on the catwalk at Saint Laurent, Hermes, Bottega Veneta and Burberry, as well as featuring in advertising campaigns for Burberry, Hugo Boss and H&M. If he's inherited his strong brows from his dad, his piercing blue eyes come courtesy of his mum, the actress Patry Kensit. While he hasn't set foot on a catwalk yet, Lennon's younger half brother, Gene, 23 (whose mother is former All Saints member Nicole Appleton) is another model waiting in the wings.
The Sims siblings
When your father is one of the world's top fashion photographers, it would be rude not to step in front of the lens yourself. Twenty-year-old Stevie's and 18 year-old Ned's parents are true fashion royalty: mum is fashion journalist-turned-designer-turned-fine artist Luella Bartley (to whom Ned bears a striking resemblance) and dad is David Sims, the Sheffield-born photographer who shot to fame in the nineties, and has lensed campaigns for everyone from Calvin Klein (in 1993, shooting a young Kate Moss) to Loewe and Saint Laurent (current season). Flame-haired Stevie has modelled for Burberry, Zara and H&M, while Scandi blonde Ned has walked for Isabel Marant, Loewe and Aries.
Iris Law
Her parents are actor Jude Law and actress Sadie Frost, who divorced in 2003 after six years of marriage, and were key members of London's 'Primrose Hill set'. Law, 24, was raised there, alongside her three brothers, but now lives in East London – at least, she does when she's not jetting round the world on modelling assignments. The current face of Versace's Dylan Purple perfume, she's a favourite of Donatella's, as well as of Miuccia Prada, Burberry, Nike, David Yurman and Victoria's Secret.
Lux Gillespie
The scion of Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie and super-stylist Katy England (who's worked alongside Alexander McQueen) has just started his modelling career, and has so far clocked up catwalk miles for Burberry.
Elfie Reigate
The daughter of model-turned-nutritionist Rose Ferguson (a former muse of iconic nineties photographer Corinne Day) and artist Barry Reigate, Elfie, 22, shares the same insouciant sense of style as her mum. Although she doesn't share her hair: Elfie's cascading blonde curls are fairly anomalous in the one-look-fits-all modelling game, and have garnered her a slew of work with mid-market favourites including Whistles, Liberty and Me + Em, in whose spring campaign she currently features. Her half sister, Bliss Chapman (whose father is the artist Jake Chapman) is set to follow in her footsteps, too.