You scroll through your feed during fashion month and something feels different. The faces in the front rows look familiar, but younger. The last names are the same ones you have been reading about for decades, yet the first names are brand new. This season in Paris, the children of Hollywood and European royalty did not just tag along – they commanded the spotlight. And more often than not, their legendary parents seemed perfectly content playing the supporting role.
From catwalks to courtside seats, a generational shift in Paris
Since September 28, the streets of the French capital have been buzzing with Paris Fashion Week energy, drawing the most in-demand international celebrities of our time. But this season marked a noticeable tipping point. The so-called nepo babies were not merely sitting beside their famous mothers and fathers – they were walking runways and anchoring front rows on their own terms.
The most talked-about debut belonged to Apple Martin, daughter of Gwyneth Paltrow. The 22-year-old model stepped onto a runway for the very first time in her career, and she did it for Chloé, no less, wearing a bohemian-chic dress that immediately became one of the week’s most photographed moments. Meanwhile, Ella Bleu Travolta, daughter of John Travolta, graced the Miu Miu catwalk on Sunday alongside a five-star cast that included Gigi Hadid, Olivia Colman, and Emma Corrin. Could two runway appearances in a single week signal that the next generation is ready to own the fashion conversation entirely?
The front row belonged to them
If the catwalks were impressive, the front rows told an even bigger story. Lila Moss, now a fixture at various Fashion Weeks around the world, showed up at both the Saint Laurent show and the H&M x Elie Saab event, sporting dark, minimalist silhouettes that echoed her mother’s signature style. Iris Law, daughter of Jude Law, attended those same two Parisian evenings and added the Isabel Marant show at the Palais Royal courtyard on Thursday, October 1. Georgia May Jagger, daughter of Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall, also made a point of checking out Anthony Vaccarello’s work as artistic director of Saint Laurent – a show that clearly drew fashion’s most connected offspring.
On the French side, the takeover was just as pronounced. Laura Smet turned heads at Balmain in leopard-print trousers. Suzanne Lindon chose a croc-effect skirt for Miu Miu. And Nine d’Urso, daughter of Ines de la Fressange, brought effortless Parisian cool to Christian Dior in a blazer-and-ripped-jeans combination. The Cassel sisters, Deva and Leonie, split up for maximum impact: the elder attended the Dior show, where she serves as the house’s ambassador, while the younger opted for the Roger Vivier spring-summer 2027 presentation. Solo appearances like these break the usual pattern, since nepo babies are more commonly seen with a parent in tow.
When mom and dad become the plus-one
And yet, some of the sweetest moments of the week happened precisely when parent and child arrived together – except this time, you could feel the dynamic had flipped. Lou Sulola Samuel, just 16 years old, made a rare and striking entrance on the arm of her mother, Heidi Klum, at the Vivienne Westwood show on Saturday. Julianne Moore seized her invitation to the new Messika collection on October 1 as a mother-daughter outing with Liv Freundlich, who then attended the Loewe show solo the following day. At that same Loewe event, Nell Burton and her father, Tim Burton, were also among the guests.
Lolita Chammah posed alongside her mother, Isabelle Huppert, at Balenciaga, wearing a forest-green skirt covered in glittering rhinestones. Joy Hallyday appeared arm-in-arm with Laeticia Hallyday to take in Anthony Vaccarello’s vision at Saint Laurent. Billy Blanchard, a social media favorite since the previous Fashion Week and still only 15 years old, stole the show yet again – this time in sky-high heels. He attended the Christian Louboutin show with his mother, Julie Depardieu, and the Jean Paul Gaultier show with his father, Philippe Katerine, spreading infectious energy and exuberant outfits to the fans waiting outside each venue. Nicole Kidman and her daughter Faith arrived at the spring-summer 2027 collection by Matthieu Blazy, artistic director of Chanel, in coordinated gray outfits – a bonding ritual that has become a tradition for the Kidman women.
A new guard, whether we are ready or not
What this Paris season made undeniably clear is that the next generation is no longer content with borrowed clout. These young names are building their own fashion identities – walking runways, curating front-row wardrobes, and in some cases outshining the very parents who opened the doors for them. Whether you find the phenomenon thrilling or complicated, one thing is certain: the era of the nepo baby as a mere accessory is over. They are the main event now, and their famous parents seem happy enough to take the seat next to them.