Fashion Week Walk: Nepo Baby Dismisses Nepotism Claims

Nepo baby Isadora Bjarkardottir Barney strutted on the runway during Copenhagen Fashion Week on Thursday. 

The 22-year-old model, daughter of Icelandic singer Bjork and American artist Matthew Barney, took to the runway for Cecilie Bahnsen’s milestone 10th anniversary show.

The actress, who has recently mentioned that nepotism doesn’t assist her career, wore a semi-transparent white dress adorned with ribbon straps and floral embellishments at the front.

Isadora completed her look with a pair of white sneakers and let her brunette hair fall in soft waves, gently resting at her shoulders.

The media personality could be seen modeling the look at what appeared to be an abandoned parking lot. 

Fog machines nearby added to the ambience as Isadora led other models wearing the Danish brand’s SS26 anniversary collection. 

Designer Cecilie opened up about the pieces and the runway show in a statement which read, per WWD: ‘There’s something special about showing in Copenhagen. 

‘It’s where everything began, and many of the people in the audience have been part of the journey since the start. That makes it feel intimate and emotional. 

‘For the show, we invited some guests to wear archive pieces. They become part of the living image. The show doesn’t just happen in front of them, but around them. It’s a way of saying thank you,’ Cecilie added. 

Isadora kicked off her modeling career when she appeared in Miu Miu’s Fall/Winter 2022 jewelry campaign. 

Other A-list celebrities that took part in the ads included Sydney Sweeney and Emily Ratajkowski.   

Later that same year, she made her official runway debut when she also walked for the Italian brand for its Spring/Summer 2023 during Paris Fashion Week. 

Bjork shares Isadora with ex Matthew Barney – whom she began dating in the 90s. However, the pair ended their relationship in 2013. 

The Human Behaviour songstress is also mom to son Sindri, 39, whom she welcomed with ex-husband and guitarist Þór Eldon. 

While Isadora continues to focus on her budding modeling career, the star is also working towards her passion for acting – and has been cast as the lead in the new drama, The Mountain.

But despite her A-list roots, Isadora – who is studying performance at Central Saint Martins in London – says her surname hasn’t made things as easy as people might think. 

‘I have the benefit of their direct support as experienced veterans in their fields, which I am so, so lucky to have,’ she said.

‘They’re the first people I come to, if I have an idea for a script or a project. They have so much guidance to offer.

‘But then there is the other kind of benefit that disguises itself as a benefit but doesn’t really serve you, which is nepotism.

‘Financially, sure, it can get you super far, but in terms of one’s own personal journey – uncovering how I see the world, how I relate to it and how I’d like to share that with people as an artist – it doesn’t help you very much.’

Isadora, who grew up between New York and Reykjavik following her parents’ split in 2013, also said that public assumptions about her background can get in the way.

Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, she said: ‘People have preconceived ideas about me, based on what they think they know about my family.

‘I hope I don’t sound bitter, because it’s such a gift. I just mean that it’s a challenge discerning what’s what. But you get pretty good at it, eventually.’

In The Mountain, Isadora plays Anna, a teenage musician trying to keep her life together following the sudden death of her mother – while navigating grief, early pregnancy, and a strained relationship with her father.

The film marks her first time in a lead role, and she also contributed to the music.

The role came to her by chance, after a former crew member she’d worked with on a TV series remembered she had acted before.

‘I went over for coffee and we did some scenes and I brought some demos for music and we just flew from there,’ she said. ‘It felt like a dream, really. It kind of came out of nowhere – it was wild.’

She played a small role – a singing Viking slave – in the 2022 film The Northman, which starred her mother Bjork, Alexander Skarsgard, Nicole Kidman, and Anya Taylor-Joy.

But Isadora says her new role gave her the space to really develop her skills as a performer. ‘I definitely felt on set, “Wow, this is really forming me as a collaborator.”

‘The first few weeks I was maybe a little shy, kind of nodding my head and saying, “Sure, I’ll stand here and say that.” Eventually, I started to take up more space.’

Isadora said she was drawn to the role because of how emotionally complex the character was. ‘I think Anna’s teetering carefully on multiple precipices. 

‘Journeys of grief, of adulthood, of both motherhood and losing a mother, of being a daughter in this new way, of being an artist. It’s a lot of big firsts being opened up to her.’

And while she admits she’s benefited from having two parents with decades of creative experience – calling them her ‘first people to come to’ with new ideas – Isadora is clear that she’s carving her own path.

‘There isn’t a career path that’s pre-written if you’re committed to a life in the arts,’ she said.

‘Even if you are making the right decision, it doesn’t always feel that way. And that’s comforting.’