it is said that young women dread turning into their mothers, but if you are Lila Grace Moss, daughter of Kate Moss, that appears to be the entire plan.
This week the supermodel’s daughter stepped out in Paris looking exactly like her mother of yesteryear.
There was the hair parted down the centre like 1990s Kate, the black leather hot pants that her mother has been partial to over the years – not to mention the exact leopard-print jacket that Moss wore out on the town almost 20 years earlier.
But then, Lila has never been shy of stealing from her mum’s wardrobe. From ballet pumps and waistcoats to biker jackets and transparent slip dresses, she has recreated almost every iconic Kate Moss look there is.
‘I copy her outfits consistently,’ Lila admitted in a magazine interview in 2023. ‘[Although] I steal mostly her bags. I can’t steal her shoes, which is devastating. She’s a size six. I’m a size five.’
Take a look at the ever-increasing number of photographs of Lila and you’ll see it’s more than her mum’s handbags she’s inspired by.
For last year’s British Fashion Awards, she commissioned designer Nensi Dojaka to create a dress that was eerily reminiscent of her mother’s infamous bias-cut Liza Bruce slip dress from 1993.
While at last month’s New York Fashion Week, she stepped out in a near-identical Saint Laurent blazer and low-cut silk top Kate had worn two years before.
It is said that young women dread turning into their mothers, but if you are Lila Grace Moss, daughter of Kate Moss, that appears to be the entire plan (Kate pictured at the Saint Laurent S/S 2024 show, Paris)
Lila has never been shy of stealing from her mum’s wardrobe – she has recreated almost every iconic Kate Moss look there is (Lila pictured at YSL Beauty Candy Club pop-up in NYC, February 2025)
What’s the harm in a little copycat style between mother and daughter, you may ask – especially when your mother is one of the most stylish women in the world?
Well, everything, if you want to carve out a career for yourself.
Because look a little closer at the path she has forged for herself over the last five years and it’s clear Lila’s not only influenced by her mum, but in danger of being for ever eclipsed by her.
Ever since she made her modelling debut almost a decade ago, appearing on the cover of Vogue Italia as a fresh-faced 13-year-old alongside Kate in 2016, Lila has allowed the world to treat her as a mini version of mum.
In the beginning this was to be expected, especially when you considered Lila was represented by her mother’s eponymous modelling agency. It was charming. Knowing. Adorable, even.
There was the Fall 2022 Calvin Klein campaign, which saw Lila dressed in a vest and oversized jeans that had more than a wink to her mother’s iconic Calvin Klein ad campaign exactly 30 years earlier. And the British Vogue cover where both mother and daughter were dressed in identical outfits and matching crimped hair.
There was the Fall 2022 Calvin Klein campaign, which saw Lila dressed in a vest and oversized jeans
Lila’s outfit was more than just a wink to her mother’s iconic Calvin Klein ad campaign exactly 30 years earlier (pictured)
And they weren’t the only ones capitalising on the mother-daughter model bond. Kaia Gerber, 23, and her mother Cindy Crawford, 59, have played up their relationship in campaigns for brands including Omega and Versace.
But Kaia has since gone on to be one of the world’s most in-demand models in her own right. In fact, due to the leg-up her mother undoubtedly gave her in the early days, Kaia may even end up surpassing Cindy in terms of earnings.
At 22, it’s time Lila did the same and stepped out of her mother’s oversized – metaphorically, at least – shadow.
Frankly, the sheer number of Moss senior and junior ‘moments’ together are beginning to feel a little tired.
It was cool to see them both front last year’s Fendi Peekaboo campaign showing how one bag can work for different generations.
But when both Lila and Kate, now 51, made their Victoria’s Secret debut on the same catwalk last autumn, it started to feel a bit, well, unhealthy.
Lila is by all accounts one of the most famous models in the world. But she must prove she can do it on her own.
The temptation for brands and media to lump mother and daughter together is now damaging any chance of a future career Lila may have.
What’s the harm in a little copycat style between mother and daughter, you may ask – especially when your mother is one of the most stylish women in the world? (Kate pictured at Dior after party in June, 2024)
It’s time Lila stepped out of her mother’s oversized – metaphorically, at least – shadow (pictured at Saint Laurent’s Paris show, September, 2024)
If Lila wants to see what she is really made of, now is the time for her to tread her own path; to prove to the world – and herself – that she is far more than simply Kate Moss’s daughter.
Of course, being a nepo baby is not easy. One only has to look at the many examples of celebrity children attempting to ape their parents and failing to reach the same heights. (I give you Frank Sinatra Jr and Jaden Smith, Will Smith’s son.)
But for every nepo baby who has tried and failed, there are shining examples of those who – with a bit of freedom and
some original thought – have been able to forge their own bright paths. Take Jane Birkin and her daughter, Charlotte Gainsbourg. Like Moss, Jane was iconic – so much so that she had a Hermes bag named after her.
Though Charlotte began her career by singing with her mother, she soon trod her own path as a compelling actress, who in many respects is taken far more seriously as an artist than Jane ever was.
In order for Lila to prove she can do the same, she must break free from Kate Moss’s influence – and, just as importantly, Kate must stop playing the protective mother and let her go.
Lila is beautiful, talented and as networked as they come. Surely the most fashionable move she could make right now is to try something completely different and unexpected.
Starting with wearing her own clothes…