Hot Takes #3: Nepo Fashion Babies
Nepo fashion babies bite back
Hot Takes is a place where I explore and analyse what's going on in the realm of fashion in a relatable and helpful way, basically my bullet point thoughts on fashion's hottest issues. These posts get to the heart of why people are talking about what they’re talking about, what this means and where this could go next.Â
Think: what direction is fashion heading in? What’s new, innovative and exciting? What could do with a little less showmanship and a little more thought? And also, what's going on in fashion that's really pissing people off?
Hot Takes ties fashion topics to a wider cultural and social context, and digs into why these topics are important and the often more significant meanings behind them. I hope they give you a little more food for thought.
So sit back, relax and let's get into it. Here’s Hot Takes #3.Â
You may have heard the term nepo baby but not been able to pinpoint exactly what it means. But thanks to this article from Vulture, the term is now firmly planted in the greater cultural consciousness. To put it simply, a nepo baby is a term coined to label the children of Hollywood royalty that have pursued careers based off of the success of their rich and famous parents. It's a term that's a hot topic of debate, with many nepo babies becoming increasingly disgruntled with the label they view as being unfair.
But fashion is a world rife with nepotism and that can’t be denied. The likes of Kendall Jenner, Hailey Bieber, the Hadid sisters and Kaia Gerber are just a few of the famous faces that took over the modelling industry once they came of age, in part thanks to the leg up in life that their parents gave them. And since this fashion industry reckoning began to take hold, descendants of famous faces are the ones favoured to sign lucrative deals and get big name fashion contracts.
In a cover story with Elle, on the topic of nepo babies, Lily-Rose Depp said: "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." While this may be true, Depp's comments spurred reactions from models across the industry without famous last names they can fall back on. Vittoria Ceretti, a model who’s fronted campaigns for Chanel, Prada and Fendi and whose name you may not recognise but whose face you’ll know when you see it, was having none of it: "You have no f**king idea how much you have to fight to make people respect you. TAKES YEARS. You just get it by free day one." But with nepo babies emerging as the new fashion it-girls, like it or not well-connected famous offspring are poised to dominate fashion in 2023 and beyond.
Nepo privilege vs hard graft
Nepo fashion babies work hard too you know. Well, according to the them at least. Being a nepo fashionista is an inherent privilege and it's something celebrity children must be aware of, but the refusal to accept the privilege is the real problem here. Nepo fashion babies grow up surrounded by money, connections, and all of the makings of an easy life. It can make them a little out of touch at times as their roadmap to success is often carved out regardless of whether they are any good or not at what they do. There's a stark difference between being blessed with a life full of privilege that comes with a ton of perks, versus having to work for years with little to no reward. With that being said, when your work depends on your appearance you are not immune to insecurities wherever you stand on the nepo baby ladder. Bella Hadid is one prominent nepo fashion baby that's openly discussed her struggles with mental health, her poor self-esteem and her plastic surgery regrets. Expectations are incredibly high for nepo fashion babies that's no secret, but that doesn’t mean their privilege isn’t an advantage from the get-go.
Fashion's fixation on celebrity and follower counts
Fashions fixation with celebrity culture and follower counts is a problem. Not only does it discredit people working in fashion who don't fit into the typical celebrity criteria or have ridiculously large social followings, it just makes things incredibly boring when you see the same faces over and over again. You know how it goes, when a celeb has a new movie they want to promote or a new fashion line they’re debuting they seem to be everywhere. It’s a total snooze fest. Nepo fashion babies neatly fit into the celebrity sector of society, and their typically high follower counts are almost held up as the gold standard for any model that wants to have a successful career in fashion. Brands are prioritising choosing models who have a lot of followers over models who have a solid portfolio of work, and that's just a sad fact we can’t escape. Nepo babies' monopolisation of all things fashion has a lot to do not only with their recognisable surnames, more often than not it also has to do with their absurdly large audience bases that brands want to target and sell to. So why not hire them? From a brand perspective, it makes sense. Doesn’t mean it’s right.
The fight for credibility
Once upon a time, models could be plucked from the depths of obscureness and seemingly overnight they were catapulted to global fame and were instantly recognised as household names. Naomi Campbell was scouted while window-shopping in Covent Garden, Kate Moss was discovered at JFK airport in 1988, and Jourdan Dunn was spotted in Primark in Hammersmith which kick-started her modelling career. But these days the route to modelling stardom is a little more tricky, mainly thanks to the advent of social media and people using curated feeds as unofficial portfolios with carefully stylised shots of them living their best lives looking picture-perfect whilst doing so. But today's consumers are rebuffing aesthetics in favour of something a little more real, and nepo babies are battling it out with lesser-known faces in a fight for credibility. Nepo babies are eager to appear relatable but this is something that just isn't coming off well, no matter how much we hate like and watch whatever it is they're getting up to.
My two cents.
Steve Jobs's daughter Eve Jobs has starred in a Glossier campaign, walked the Coperni SS22 runway, and landed a Vogue Japan cover. Leno Olumi Klum, daughter of Heidi Klum and Seal’s adopted daughter, is a Dior Beauty ambassador, has graced the covers of Hunger, Glamour Germany and Harper’s Bazaar Germany, and has walked the D&G runway. And Yumi Nu, granddaughter of Rocky Aoki and niece to Steve and Devon Aoki, has landed a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover, a Vogue Hong Kong cover, a Teen Vogue digital cover, a Jacquemus campaign and has walked for Brandon Maxwell, Puma and Vogue World. So yeah, it's safe to say we're entering a time where nepo babies seem to be sticking around for the long haul.
Now, it has to be said that the rise of nepo fashion babies doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing. Model Adwoa Aboah, daughter of Camillia Lowther the founder of fashion management firm CL, created the Gurls Talk platform for young women to openly discuss their mental health. Would she have been able to create that platform without her industry connections? Who knows, but at least she’s using her well-connected lineage as a force for good.
The issue with most of today's nepo fashion babies is that they try to shun the label or reposition it as a hurdle they had to overcome. Yes, the constant comparison to your famous parents and trying to live up to their legacy must be annoying. But it's not the end of the world. If nepo fashion babies want to cement their standing with the fashion elite and end the ridicule, then putting in the work may give them a fighting chance. So if your gonna be a nepo fashion baby just be a nepo fashion baby and own it, Ã la Hailey Bieber.
What do you think of these kick-starter thoughts that I hope encourage you to think a little more deeply about this topic? Do you think nepo fashion babies will last? And can nepo fashion babies outshine their famous parents?