Meet the next generation of celebrity offspring making their modelling debuts

For most of us, a first job might be some Saturday work in a shop or a fast food outlet. If you’re more career-focused and don’t need to earn your own pocket money, you might do a string of internships to build up your CV instead - though that might still involve making lots of tea and coffee.

That’s unless you’re the son or daughter of a celebrity, of course. If your parents are even borderline famous, there’s the option of modelling too. With the potential for travel, beautiful clothes and lots of fuss and flattery, it’s not difficult to see just how much it’s preferable to a weekend shift at KFC.

Little surprise then, that so many celebrity’s children agreed to walk the Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda show in Venice this weekend: There was supermodel Heidi Klum’s daughter Leni, 17; Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassel’s daughter Deva, 16; Emmeline (daughter of Christian) Bale, 22; and Chance (age 15), Jessie James and D’Lila Star Combs (twins aged 14), who are the daughters of Sean (Diddy) Combs.

Aside from Leni Klum, who made her catwalk debut by opening Berlin Fashion Week in January, it was their first time walking a show, and the pressure was on with a star-studded audience that counted Jennifer Lopez, Dame Helen Mirren, Anna Wintour and Kitty Spencer, not to mention the world’s press watching their every move. The combination of lavish ballgowns, skyscraper heels (for some), somewhat inclement weather (hailstones, anyone?) and arrival via gondola certainly didn’t make it easy.

So why would a fashion house with adequate funds to cast the world’s most famous models trust a group of inexperienced teens to walk their highest profile show to date? In celebrity children terms, they could have picked Kaia Gerber (daughter of Cindy Crawford) or Kendall Jenner (sister of the Kardashians and daughter of ‘momager’ extraordinaire Kris Jenner), all of whom have proved themselves as successful supermodels in their own right.

The short answer is: novelty. There has always been curiosity surrounding the children of our favourite celebrities: What do they look like? Do they share their parents’ looks and talent? Do they have the same je ne sais quoi that makes their mother or father so captivating?

We’re even more fascinated by those that we haven’t yet been introduced to us, which is probably why Dolce & Gabbana’s latest selection are so young - to us they are genuinely new faces who haven’t been covered ad nauseam by the tabloids.

It’s worked in the past: Lily-Rose Depp landed a Chanel campaign at 16 - her mother, Vanessa Paradis was a longtime muse for the late Karl Lagerfeld - and she walked her first show for the brand less than a year later in December 2015. Lila Moss (daughter of Kate) modelled her first show at 18, closing Miu Miu’s spring/summer ‘21 show on the final day of Paris Fashion Week in October last year.

Others have started even earlier: Kaia Gerber made her modelling debut for Versace at the age of just 10 (though she didn’t walk a runway until she was 16; a Calvin Klein one, no less); Romeo Beckham starred in a Burberry ad at the age of 12. In Burberry’s case, Romeo was credited with boosting the brand’s sales by 14 percent as well so there’s proven power behind this strategy of finding famous people’s children just as they’re coming of age.

There’s so much appetite for celebrity offspring as models, it has almost become a rite of passage. There’s Lourdes Leon, daughter of Madonna, who recently appeared on the cover of American Vogue; Iris Law (the actress daughter of Sadie Frost and Jude Law), who has walked for Miu Miu and appeared in a Stella McCartney campaign; Willow Smith (daughter of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith) who has been in campaigns for Chanel and Onitsuka Tiger.

For some, this nepotistic foot in the door is a launchpad for serious success in one’s own right. Hailey Bieber (neé Baldwin) is one of the most in-demand models in the business, as is Kendall Jenner, who America practically watched grow up on Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

There’s no question that it requires a certain work ethic to maintain this kind of success though. Modelling isn’t all glamour - there are early starts, late finishes, lots of waiting around too. Sometimes the clothes are uncomfortable, the set freezing cold, and the expectation that the whole crew works through lunch just so the photographer can shoot while the light is right.

Perhaps that’s why they don’t all pursue modelling as a long-term career. This weekend’s gang of newcomers won’t necessarily be ubiquitous on the catwalks come fashion month but, with the right guidance, they’ll be able to pick and choose. Celebrity models are often better compensated for their troubles than a regular new face, as they have a certain star power and often a decent social media following too.

So will we see more of Deva Cassel, Leni Klum and Chance, Jessie James and D’Lila Star Combs? Undoubtedly. Deva already has almost half a million Instagram followers; Leni has signed with CAA, a prestigious talent management company. Emmeline Bale already has a budding music career. I don’t think they’ll be filling out job applications at KFC any time soon.

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