Paris Fashion Week opened last week with, among other shows, a grandiose, ambitious show from Dior and seductive presentation by Tom Ford. Chappell Roan and Doechii also made headlines at Fashion Week, with the Grammy award-winning best new artist attending Valentino, McQueen and Vivienne Westwood shows and more, and having a “high fashion baptism,” according to W Magazine. The Grammy winning best rap album winner has also been in the front run of numerous shows, wearing labels like Schiaparelli and Valentino and creating viral looks.
But now, as Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter 2025-2026 comes to a close, one of the biggest stories centers on a more up-and-coming star. Namely: Transgender Jewish model Kai Schreiber made her runway debut on Sunday!
The 16-year-old daughter of actors Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber wore, per PEOPLE, “a long-sleeve animal-print minidress with a feathered neckline, as well as white lace tights, blue-tinted sunglasses and white pumps with a floral detail around the ankle.” Her runway moment was part of Valentino’s fall ready-to-wear collection titled “Le Méta-Théâtre Des Intimités” (The Meta-Theater of Intimacies) and on a set inspired by David Lynch. Kai is signed with IMG Models, the agency who first signed transgender Jewish model Hari Nef in 2015.
“omggg my heart is so full,” Kai wrote on Instagram of her runway debut. Naturally, her parents both expressed their pride in the comments of Kai’s post. “Be still my beating heart!! 🙌♥️🙌 bravo darling,” Naomi wrote. Meanwhile, Liev said, “Beyond, beyond Kai.”
While we’re not sure how Kai identifies when it comes to her religion — though this photo on her Instagram of her wearing a Star of David necklace gives us a clue — she has Ukrainian-Jewish and Polish-Jewish ancestry on her father’s side of the family. Liev has been especially public about his Jewish identity in recent years; he starred in “A Small Light” as Otto Frank in 2022, supported Ukraine with actions like cooking Passover briskets for war refugees and attended a 2024 Shabbat service at Temple Emanu-El in New York City. “Schreiber shared with listeners in the auditorium that what he loves most about Judaism is that ‘questions and debate are at the heart of Jewish thinking,'” Lior Zaltzman wrote for Kveller at the time.
Mazel tov, Kai! We cannot wait to see what you do next.
