The most fashionable moms defying stereotypes
GLORIA VANDERBILT
Not many may be aware of this, but Andersoon Cooper is, in fact, a Vanderbilt—a prominent family from America’s Gilded Age—by way of his mother, Gloria. She is a multifaceted character who immersed herself in theater, art, publishing, and, naturally, fashion. Vanderbilt launched a designer denim line tailored exclusively for women in partnership with Murjani, which is perhaps why she has become the epitome of a fashionable mom. — Eric Nicole Salta
KELLY WEARSTLER
American designer Kelly Wearstler isn’t just creative. She’s also consistent in all aspects of her life to cement her status as an imaginative designer and mother. Wearstler is proof that being a mom and balancing a design and furniture business that caters to global brands is possible. And she does it all in smashing dress codes of color, volume, and headline-grabbing silhouettes. — Eric Nicole Salta
ATHENA CALDERONE
Naming your lifestyle brand and platform EyeSwoon is an identity flex, but something else worth swooning about is founder Athena Calderone’s dedication to motherhood. “My creative life came alive through nurturing you—finding my passion, my purpose, my love of home, and trusting my instincts,” she writes about her 23-year-old son Jivan on Instagram.
Another thing we’re enamored by? A sense of fashion that mirrors her approach to design—mixing jeans with vintage coats and button-downs as her uniform alongside streamlined, intentional classic dresses. — Eric Nicole Salta
ANNA WINTOUR
In the 2009 documentary film “The September Issue,” a journalist quips that Anna Wintour is “the most powerful woman in America.” That probably still rings true today as the former American Vogue editor in chief for 37 years has now transitioned into Conde Nast’s global chief content officer and artistic director (and also Vogue cover girl alongside Meryl Streep to promote “The Devil Wears Prada 2.”)
Though nothing seems to have changed: She still sports the same bob, sunglasses, and Manolo Blahnik uniform, usually paired with a dress and a long coat. And, she still sometimes takes her children, Bee and Charles, to key events. Fashion is a family affair, it seems. — Eric Nicole Salta
VICTORIA BECKHAM
Even when she took off as part of the Spice Girls, Victoria Beckham clearly had a taste for fashion. She was famously known for “that little Gucci dress” she regularly dons.
Decades later and against the doubts that hounded her, the style icon mother of four (who all have branched out into their own careers, with Cruz following her musical steps) has now transformed her posh persona into a respected designer whose empire spans a luxury label and beauty skincare line, defying the stereotype that life after motherhood is all practicality and no style. — Eric Nicole Salta
CELESTINA MARISTELA OCAMPO
Throughout Tina Maristela Ocampo’s career, one thing is clear: pull from your interests, experiences, and inspirations to become the most fashionable and powerful version of yourself and everything you associate yourself with.
That permeates even in her eclectic home, businesses, maximalist tablescapes (“I just know when something is wrong or needs to be aligned”), poetically precise style that showcases her poise as a generational fashion figure, and especially in her four children, who are all channeling Tina’s own brand of charm in their respective fields. — Eric Nicole Salta
TINGTING COJUANGCO
Former model, politician, and advocate, particularly for Muslim culture, Margarita “Tingting” Cojuangco is known for her signature white button-up. Classic, clean, and crisp, the fashionable mom’s tailored elegance shows cultivated taste, which comes through in a refined public image in social and civic circles.
In a 2015 interview with Lifestyle Inquirer, she drew a line between surface and deeper beauty, “Beauty fades. You can’t be a beautiful face or an elegant woman without being wise or intelligent.” This stand on elegance suggests Tingting has always dressed less for adornment or vanity, and more with a sense of conduct—standing with poise, intelligence, and deep social awareness. — Lala Singian-Serzo
LAUREN SANTO DOMINGO
As the co-founder of Moda Operandi and artistic director of Tiffany & Co. Home, Lauren Santo Domingo knows a thing or two about being a fashionable mom. And method dressing. And having a grand old time attending New York Fashion Week and launching over 400 Ibiza-inspired pieces for a capsule collection.
“I taught myself business, I taught myself to be a mother, I taught myself about fashion,” says Santo Domingo in a 2019 interview. — Eric Nicole Salta
GRACE KELLY
Few figures embody the idea of poised motherhood quite like Grace Kelly. Before she became the Princess of Monaco, she was already an Oscar-winning actress whose elegance translated seamlessly from the silver screen to royalty, and as a fashionable mother of three.
Her style epitomized elegance by blending structure with soft femininity, from tailored button-downs and trousers to the most exquisite ballroom gowns. Perhaps for the princess, what defined her wasn’t just how she looked (though she was strikingly beautiful), but how she carried herself. Merging style with substance, the icon once said, “True elegance is kindness. Everything else is just decoration.” — Lala Singian-Serzo
Diane Von Furstenberg
Diane Von Furstenberg is an icon for a reason. She didn’t just design the jersey-knit wrap dress in the 1970s as an alternative uniform for women; Von Furstenberg also subverted expectations of how women should feel in their own skin.
“I think fashion and beauty are really projections of either who you are or what you want to be. There is very little necessity involved,” she said in a 2022 interview. Her methods as a mother to Tatiana and Alexander are characteristic of her designs—independent, passion personified, tough, but never too much. But no matter, she is a mother “more than anything else.” — Eric Nicole Salta
Natalia Vodianova
You can call Natalia Vodianova a supernova and a supermom as she embodies the multinarrative versions of herself and the narratives they each demand.
Fashion and goodwill intersect in her modern family life with Antoine Arnault of LVMH and their five children—Lucas, Viktor, and Neva with her ex-husband, and sons Maxim and Roman with Antoine. Having been a mother at 19, the 44-year-old supermodel mom muses that being a teenage mom came with sacrifices. “But, each of my five children has brought something more to my life, not something less.”
Her command on the runway and her personal style are rivaled only by one thing: “When I am focused on being a mother, I really disconnect from everything else.” — Eric Nicole Salta
Audrey Hepburn
For the icon that was Audrey Hepburn, less was indeed more. Her style, beyond the legendary “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” look, favored a rich storytelling that was grounded in chic but practical pieces. She stuck to elegant basics—minimalist knits and trousers, ballet flats, and a little Parisian spirit, all of which enabled her to be comfortable with rearing her two sons or going through daily family life.
But ultimately, it’s Hepburn’s heart that truly made her timelessly fashionable. “As you get older, remember you have another hand: The first is to help yourself, the second is to help,” she was quoted telling her sons. — Eric Nicole Salta
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
The former first lady famously said, “One should always dress like a marble column.” Early on, Jackie O was known for her structured ensembles of tailored suits, white gloves, modest dresses, and pillbox hats. Dressed by Oleg Cassini during the idyllic “Camelot” years, she built a wardrobe that balanced a sense of power with femininity.
After the devastating loss of her husband, Jackie’s style evolved as she raised Caroline and John Jr. while navigating grief. In her later years as a New York editor, she embraced less of a tailored look and more of a boho look, choosing relaxed blouses, wide pants, oversized sunglasses, and Hermès scarves.
Regardless of the era, throughout her life, Jackie O maintained her signature, sophisticated polish to her sense of style. — Lala Singian-Serzo
