Love them or Hate them: The Nepo Baby Dilemma

Love them or Hate them: The Nepo Baby Dilemma
By Milly Morgan

The internet ‘loving to hate’ is no new phenomenon but there is one breed of person that fires the public up like no other – a Nepo-baby. Whether its Brooklyn Beckham trying his hand at photography (or whatever his latest hobby is), or Lily Rose Depp walking runways despite only being 5ft 4, we cannot stand to see someone get a leg up in the industry as a result of their parents job title or notoriety. 

Is this because deep down we all secretly wish our dad was an Oscar winning director, or that our mum was the CEO of Vogue, and our jealousy prohibits us from being able to see them as potentially talented? Is there space for Nepo-babies to exist and actually contribute to artistic spaces? Or are they really a talentless race that need to be made extinct ASAP? 

@graziafrance Sunday Rose Kidman Urban, la fille de Nicole Kidman, ouvre le défilé @Miu Miu SS25 lors du dernier jour de Fashion Week Parisienne. #sundayroseurban #nicolewallace #miumiu #pfw ♬ Pretty (Sped Up) - MEYY

This debate has been reignited by Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban’s daughter, Sunday Rose, opening Miu Miu’s spring/summer 2025 show on the last day of Paris fashion week – a privileged position for any aspiring model as acknowledged by Harper’s Bazaar. The 16-year-old made her runway debut in a white cotton mini dress, styled with leg warmers and open-toe pumps. 

However, Sunday's inauguration into the fashion world has left the internet completely divided. On the one hand The Cut came out in praise writing: “Despite the show marking her first time on the runway, Sunday Rose looked like a total natural,” while others angrily wrote, “Nepo baby or not, that walk was ridiculous and it is frustrating watching clearly unqualified people get the job.” 

Another TikTok user slated the new model in an apology to “all the actual high fashion models who got passed over so we could have Sunday Rose walk like she is on a cobble stone path.” The ultimate conclusion was that people online felt that Sunday took an opportunity away from other hard working models who could only dream of opening a show so early on in their career. 

But was Sunday’s walk truly that bad, or, as I would argue is far more likely to be the case, we put her under a microscope, secretly hoping that she messes up because it would appease our feelings of bitterness towards each nepo baby’s fundamentally easier path to stardom. And at the end of the day, New York Magazine’s statement that “We love them, we hate them, we disrespect them, we’re obsessed them” could not ring more true. Let’s face it, we wouldn’t give this much airtime to any other model in Miu Miu’s show!

Perhaps one of the biggest nepo babies of all is Lila Moss, who is of course the daughter of fashion royalty, Kate Moss. However, it seems she has managed to earn her stripes and proven herself in the eyes of the internet. While she is still subject to the classic nepo baby comments, Lila has built a name for herself working with the likes of Marc Jacobs, Coperni, and Miu Miu. Her appearances alongside her mum have also led to the pair being branded an ‘iconic mother-daughter duo’ as they have attended the Met Gala arm in arm, walked FendixVersace and, most recently, made their debut at the Victoria’s Secret fashion show. 

Of course it isn’t just Sunday and Lila whose fame has been questioned - Hollywood is heaving with Nepo babies across all industries. And while yes, I would completely agree that some of them would never make it without the endorsement of their parents, I am unashamed to admit that I am grateful for quite a lot of them. 

I mean, what would the fashion world be without Kaia Gerber stunning in Oscar de la Renta at the 2021 Met Gala, what would film industry be without Gwyneth Paltrow and Zoe Kravitz, and what would music be without Gracie Abrams (it would be nice to have Paul Mescal back on the market though!) 

Whether you love them, hate them or, love to hate them, I think it’s time we all agree that Nepo babies are not going anywhere and in some cases may have a semi-valuable place in our society. Whether that value be their parents passing down great genes, them actually being talented in their own right, or just providing iconic pop-culture moments, like when Hailey Bieber was papped in her ‘nepo-baby’ baby tee - because self-awareness is always key.

While it will never not be a tiny dagger to the heart every time we see people like Sunday Rose skip the queue, Nepo-babies are here to stay and will continue to attempt to fill their parents shoes, open-toe Miu Miu pumps and all. And at the end of the day, let’s face it, if we were to cull them all there probably wouldn’t be many people left in Hollywood at all.