Natalia Bryant says she was ‘terrified’ to make her runway debut at Versace show

Mini Mamba has found her catwalk confidence.

The February 2024 issue of Town & Country introduces Natalia Bryant as “fashion’s new MVP” and Kobe and Vanessa Bryant’s eldest daughter is certainly living up to that moniker.

The 20-year-old University of Southern California student, who turns 21 on Friday, opened up about her budding modeling career and her movie-making ambitions to the mag, revealing that her first trip down the runway was more intimidating than she expected.

Natalia — who made her catwalk debut during Versace’s Milan Fashion Week show in September 2023 — admitted, “I was completely terrified.”

However, once she strutted down the runway in a classic black sheath dress with sculptural sleeves, the film student quickly caught the catwalk bug.

“I remember after I walked I turned to someone and said, ‘Oh my god, let’s do that again!'” she told Town & Country.

Natalia made her catwalk debut during Milan Fashion Week in 2023. Getty Images She posed in a corseted leather Louis Vuitton dress in one snap. Danny Kasiriye The USC student glittered in Tiffany jewels. Danny Kasiriye

Perhaps Gigi Hadid’s sisterly advice helped, with the supermodel telling Natalia, “In the rehearsal, they’re gonna tell you to walk fast. They’re gonna yell. They’re gonna scream at you to walk fast” and adding, “just try to take in the moment and let yourself, like, remember it.”

“You’re gonna be great. I love you! I’m so proud of you I’m gonna cry,” Hadid told her friend.

While Natalia’s modeling career has been on the rise since signing with IMG Models in 2021, she also has aspirations to become a filmmaker, citing Sofia Coppola and Greta Gerwig as inspirations for the “girlhood and ­coming-of-age stories” she plans to direct.

“I listened to movie soundtracks in my dad’s car, and now I have a playlist of all my favorite movie scores I listen to,” Natalia shared. Danny Kasiriye She rocked a Prada jacket and shorts for the magazine spread. Danny Kasiriye A young Natalia posed with her father, Kobe Bryant, in 2005. WireImage

“I think it’s fun to have my foot in both worlds,” she said, explaining that modeling and the film industry are “both collaborative, and you meet so many different people.”

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Natalia also shares a love of music with her late father — who died in a 2020 helicopter crash with Natalia’s 13-year-old sister, Gianna — and served as a summer intern for Beyoncé’s Parkwood Entertainment last year, calling it “such an amazing experience” to work on imagery for the “Renaissance” tour.

When it comes to living up to the legacy of her famous father, Natalia said, “you just have to keep pushing and being the best person you can be and soaking everything up like a sponge… The job’s never done.”

“In terms of legacy, my main goal is just to be the best version of me that I possibly can,” she added.