Meet Romy Mars, the internet’s new favourite nepo baby: Sofia Coppola’s teen daughter went viral for her controversial TikTok, and has already starred in a Marc Jacobs campaign

Apr 7 , 2023

Romy Croquet Mars is the latest nepo baby to go viral – but did her TikTok video show cinematic promise? Photo: @themarcjacobs/Instagram

Romy Mars went viral on TikTok for trying to charter a helicopter from New York to Maryland on her dad – Phoenix frontman Thomas Mars’ – credit card, giving a glimpse into her privileged life

She’s got more famous family members – her mum Sofia Coppola has directed films for Cartier and Chanel and counts Nicolas Cage as a cousin, while her grandad Francis Ford produced The Godfather

The heated conversation surrounding “nepo babies” – celebrity children who are afforded more opportunities than their industry peers by virtue of their familial connections – continues to rage in 2023.

Sofia Coppola and Romy Mars attend the Marc Jacobs autumn 2020 runway show during New York Fashion Week in February 2020, in New York City. Photo: Getty Images

Social media was abuzz last week when Romy Mars, the 16-year-old daughter of Sofia Coppola and Phoenix frontman Thomas Mars, revealed on TikTok she was grounded for trying to charter a helicopter ride on her dad’s credit card from New York to Maryland to meet up with her “camp friend”.

Romy shared she is prohibited from having any public social media accounts lest she might be labelled a “nepotism kid”.

Romy then attempted to make vodka pasta while humorously claiming she doesn’t know the difference between an onion and garlic. She introduced her babysitter’s boyfriend, joking they are her “replacement parents” since her real parents are never home.

So who is Romy Mars, and will she pursue a career in fashion, film – or both?

She has already fronted a Marc Jacobs campaign

Romy Mars starring in a Marc Jacobs campaign in October 2020. Photo: @themarcjacobs/Instagram

Mars was only 13 when she starred in a fashion campaign for Marc Jacobs’ teenage diffusion line, Heaven by Marc Jacobs, in 2020.

The campaign was arguably bound to happen given her actress/filmmaker mum Sofia Coppola was Marc Jacobs’ ultimate muse. According to Harper’s Bazaar, Coppola met Jacobs when he was designing for Perry Ellis in the 90s. She has since collaborated with him multiple times by appearing in his fashion and fragrance campaigns.

Coppola also has a history working in fashion. In her teenage years, she interned at Chanel under the tutelage of the label’s late creative director, Karl Lagerfeld. Last year, she directed the trailer for Chanel’s Cruise 2022-23 show. In 2017, she directed a Cartier commercial featuring the 1980s Panthère jewellery watch, according to The New York Times.