SOMETHING IN THE HEIR

Okay, so Cindy, Christy and Kate aren't quaking in their Manolo Blahniks yet. But given the modeling industry's sudden interest in celebrity offspring, a famous surname is fast becoming as hot a commodity as high cheekbones. Alison Eastwood, 21, Clint's daughter with second wife Maggie Johnson, a former model, has walked the Paris runways for Lolita Lempicka. Bijou Phillips, 15, Chynna's half sister and daughter of '60s rocker John Phillips and actress Genevieve Waite, caused a stir in last year's controversial Calvin Klein jeans ads, and young stunner Kimberly Stewart, 16, daughter of rocker Rod and his ex-wife, talk show host Alana Stewart, recently signed with the Ford agency. "I would be lying if I said name identification doesn't help," says Ivana Trump Mazzuchelli, whose 14-year-old daughter with Donald Trump, Ivanka, prowled the stage in a catsuit for designer Thierry Mugler at December's VH1 Fashion & Music Awards. "But the camera doesn't lie. Ivanka is very beautiful."

Yet while daughters of the rich and famous are indeed in demand, they no longer need to be as striking as trailblazers such as Shari Belafonte. "Designers now want someone different-looking," says Carol Scott, a vice president at Los Angeles's Cunningham Agency, which represents models for runway work, print ads and commercials. "Having a well-known identity helps you stand out."

Parental indulgence doesn't hurt either. "When I was 11, my father said I could go to boarding school or [study with a tutor] and become a model," says Bijou Phillips. "At that age, what are you going to pick?"