On Monday, September 13, Natalia Bryant made her highly-anticipated debut at the Met Gala.
The 18-year-old daughter of late Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and his wife Vanessa Bryant looked absolutely stunning in a multi-colored dress by Conner Ives. She paired the unique, balloon-shaped silhouette with pink satin platform sandals, wearing her hair in a 1960s Mod-inspired half-up, half-down style.
“Bringing back preschool drop off feelings as I send my first born off to her first Met Gala,” Vanessa wrote in her caption on Instagram as she posted a photo of Natalia ahead of the event. “The VOGUE team and Anna Wintour appointed Natalia this incredible dress designed by Conner Ives which will also be featured in the American Lexicon EXHIBIT. Thank you to Instagram, Anna Wintour and VOGUE for hosting my beautiful Natalia. Special thanks to our glam team!!!! @nataliabryant ❤️ #ExhibitDress.”
© GettyImagesThis appearance from Natalia comes after the up-and-coming model signed with IMG in February. She also got her first magazine spread last week, gracing the cover of Teen Vogue.
In her profile for the magazine, Bryant opened up about her family unit—a bond made stronger by the loss of their patriarch and their mambacita, Gianna “Gigi” Bryant, in January 2020.
During her interview, Natalia didn’t shy away from talking about her famous father, revealing that reliving her memories with him is more of a happy occurrence than something that upsets her.
“He was just like the best girl dad ever,” Bryant said about bonding with Kobe in 2019 over a Star Wars midnight showing. “He was just letting me play my playlist and jam out to Taylor Swift the whole ride back, and talk about Star Wars too. It was so much fun.”
She continued, “I love talking about my dad. It’s bittersweet, but I enjoy talking about him more than it’s sad for me.”
The 18-year-old went onto prais her parents for raising her well, not acting completely different just because of her family ties.
“Growing up, my parents made it as normal as possible. Thank God they did,” she said. “It’s not, Oh she’s Natalia Bryant, she’s Kobe Bryant’s daughter. A lot of times they saw me as ‘She’s just Nani.’”
