McCartney, Beckham, Gallagher, Jagger, Depp, Cobain, Jenner, Hadid, Richie, Richards, Baldwin, Law, Crawford. What’s in a name? A lot, it would appear. Being the son or daughter of a celebrity has now become a profession in and of itself. A consumerist culture obsessed with bloodline, today we are witnessing a generation of celebrity offspring with illustrious roots increasingly dominating the fashion world.

Now, the next generation of darlings descended from the crème de la crème of the celebrity elite is unabashedly using their fame to monopolise the fashion industry: a whole new wave of young models, designers and creative entrepreneurs unashamed to promulgate their surnames. Collectively they have millions of social media followers, command the front rows at fashion week, and have appeared in numerous high-profile campaigns and advertorials for the likes of Chanel, Marc Jacob, Calvin Klein, Burberry and Alexander Wang. However, this iniquitous disregard for meritocracy leaves little room for fresh talent to find a way into an increasingly exclusive industry focused more than ever on name-dropping and celebrity connections.

Nepotism is slowly but surely leeching creativity from the fashion community

Dolce and Gabanna’s AW17 show was an ostentatious, conspicuous and lavish affair, but I’m not talking about the clothes. Instead, what stood out on the catwalk were the names. The creative artistry was completely overshadowed and diminished by a generation of new ‘it’ kids, known solely for their parents’ legacy. Anaïs Gallagher (daughter of Noel), Sofia Richie (daughter of Lionel), Rafferty Law (son of Jude), Ella and Alexander Richards (daughters of Keith) and Levi Dylan (grandson of Bob) were to name but a few.

There is no denying that nepotism is rife in the fashion industry. Lily Rose Depp’s collaboration with Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel, Gigi Hadid’s fashion collaboration with Tommy Hilfiger, and Brooklyn Beckham’s creative photography collaboration with Burberry are just a few examples. But what’s interesting is that this new brat pack is perfectly happy not just to accept and acknowledge this privilege, but also blatantly and brazenly leverage it. Previously, where celebrity children might have changed their last name to prove themselves on their own like Angelina Jolie, this generation is happy to assume the mantle of privilege. Never before have so many children of famous parents been so rewarded for their lineage, and so willing to publicly embrace it.

What’s more, this nepotism is not just accepted, it’s celebrated. This is a lucrative business: fashion houses are using celebrities’ offspring to tap into new demographics. Adopting the children of celebrities for advertising campaigns is a grand publicity stunt for fashion houses that garners more attention from social media than any ordinary model ever could. It’s a cheap marketing ploy which is turning the fashion industry into a world of profit margins and business deals rather than one of creativity and autonomous expression.

This same privilege is seen among fashion designers. Stella McCartney is viewed as one of Britain’s most successful designers but one cannot deny that her rise to the top has been somewhat easier than that of Alexander McQueen’s, who clawed his way into the industry with only his iconic artistry to prove his worth. All odds were against him, but despite this he became one of the most acclaimed designers in the world.

These celebrity youngsters are unlikely to go anywhere soon. What with fashion’s blatant desire to collaborate artistically with these hot commodity kids to make a quick buck, and celebrity children pining to be in the spotlight, this mutual agreement of superficiality and shallowness is perpetuating an already existing elitism in fashion. Profitable power play is killing any future chance of fashion resembling a purely creative outlet. The current inward-looking practices of a self-serving elite continue to cast a shadow on creativity, progressive originality and opportunity for new talent in the fashion industry.

The role of unfashionable fashion

Nepotism is slowly but surely leeching creativity from the fashion community. It is becoming less about the clothes and more about the people who wear them. We must be cautious of further privileging the already privileged and leaving little room for the creatives, the dreamers, and the visionaries. This reliance on old DNA instead of fresh-faced, raw talent is suffocating creativity and stifling artistic direction. Now the artistic choices made by brands are less about creative vision and more about a concern to appeal to a consumerist, celebrity-captivated culture.

Few new platforms have emerged to allow new talent to promote their work and too little funding is provided for new and upcoming designers. It’s an expensive industry to break into; internships are cut-throat and unpaid, and rent in fashion capitals can be extortionate. The fashion industry needs to take a longer-term perspective. Real innovation and exciting new designs will only come from those with genuine talent – they need to be discovered and encouraged, regardless of their background