Hollywood is in their Nepotism Era
image via PixaBay
It’s 2022, and dressing like an off-duty model is a thing of the past. Since roughly 2018, the large-hooped, sweatsuit-draped personas that created what became an entire aesthetic were the kingmakers in effortless fashion. But today, one scroll through TikTok shows us that all the kids want to dress like a new kind of cool girl- the kind that wears barely-there tanks, low-waisted jeans, and a makeup routine consisting solely of a suspiciously natural glow. This emerging style is a part of a new it-girl phenomenon in pop culture, and one that’s directly tied to the entertainment industry’s legacy issue.
We’re talking about nepotism babies. AKA the young celebrities who recently came of age in the internet era, only for the public to realize that they're actually the spawn of other stars. Not only do they have their gilded upbringing in common, but these ‘nepo babies,’ as some affectionately call them, also seem to follow a kind of unspoken style rule book that must only be given to the predisposed few. They wear exclusively earth-toned tops, washed-out vintage denim, and a bare midriff is their favorite accessory.
They are the Lily Rose Depp and Kaia Gerber’s of the world. Young women who, yes, are stunning, but might not be considered the style icons of the youth if it weren’t for their Hollywood heritage. While Lily Rose and Kaia are the OG nepo babies, they’re merely common members of a certain circle in LA that seems to only be growing. When scanning today’s ‘best dressed’ and ‘breakout stars’ lists, it becomes apparent that some of the last names sound more familiar than others.
Take some recent hits for example: Lexi Howard, the breakout character on this season of Euphoria, is played by Maude Apatow, daughter of filmmaker Judd Apatow and veteran actress Leslie Mann. Apatow plays the relatable, occasionally slick Lexi Howard with an ease that makes you almost believe she knows what it’s like to be the wallflower in a middle America high school. In reality, she’s the child of two of the most recognizable names in Hollywood.
To be clear, we’re not critiquing people for taking advantage of their upbringing. The entire appeal of the nepotism baby aesthetic is that we’d give anything to be them-- children who have literally had the opportunity of stardom served to them on a silver platter, if only they're inclined to take it. But if everyone currently on the young star circuit is a legacy, what does that say about the industry’s promises of a more inclusive future?
The deeper you dig, the clearer it becomes that everyone who is anyone in Hollywood right now has some sort of famous lineage. Pauline Chalamet, the breakout star of HBO’s The Sex Lives of College Girls, is the sister of (you guessed it) Timothee Chalamet. Girlboss songwriter Gracie Abrams, another purveyor of the minimalist nepo baby aesthetic, is the daughter of well-known director JJ Abrams. Point proven.
No one is saying that Maude Apatow isn’t supremely talented, or that Lily Rose Depp’s jawline couldn’t cut glass. All we ask is that before you compare yourself to these people, you remember that they had the upper hand from the start.