Sunday Rose makes her Australian magazine cover debut

Nicole Kidman has an Oscar, acting credits ranging from Moulin Rouge to Scarpetta and a history of stylish red carpet looks, but her 17-year-old daughter Sunday Rose Kidman Urban is streaks ahead, making her Australian magazine cover debut.

With her enigmatic Gen Z stare and hair falling loosely over a Dior bar jacket strewn with white ribbons like the feathers of a swan, Sunday Rose makes her first major magazine appearance on the cover of Elle Australia’s March issue, on sale Monday. It’s a significant step up from Nicole’s infamous 1983 cover for the now defunct Dolly magazine.

“My mum is someone who has always been so creative and my biggest inspiration in life,” Sunday Rose says in the interview. “She’s a key part of everything I do.”

Sunday Rose emerged from the significant shadows cast by her parents Nicole and singer Keith Urban on the Miu Miu runway at Paris Fashion Week in October 2024.

At the time she was focused on school and her stride. “I was thinking about my chemistry homework and hoping my teacher would give me an extension on the deadline,” Sunday Rose tells Elle.

Since then, Sunday Rose has appeared on the runway for French luxury label Dior, most recently on Tuesday at Paris Fashion Week, proving that fashion is more than a flirtation for the model who intends to follow in her mother’s footsteps by studying filmmaking.

“The biggest piece of industry advice Mum has given to me is to always be on time,” Sunday told Elle.

The Elle Australia team travelled to Nashville for the cover shoot, consisting entirely of clothing from the Dior pre-fall 2026 collection.

Veteran fashion director Naomi Smith who has worked with supermodels Abbey Lee, Karlie Kloss and Catherine McNeil, says Sunday Rose deserves her status as a professional model.

“At 17 years old, Sunday was as professional on set as any seasoned model,” Smith says. “But of course she was, she’s her mother’s daughter.”

This is a coup for Elle Australia editor Jessica Bailey, with Sunday Rose only having appeared on the covers of lifestyle magazine Nylon last year and this month’s edition of biannual fashion and art magazine Middle Plan, wearing a ruffled Saint Laurent dress while eating McDonald’s on a Paris street.

Bailey is now spearheading the magazine’s third attempt at gaining a permanent foothold on Australian newsstands, following previous attempts by the French brand at taking on rival fashion publications Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar from 1990 to 2002 and 2013 to 2020.

“Elle Australia put Margot Robbie on her very first cover months before she starred in The Wolf of Wall Street,” Bailey says.

“Last year, we shot Milly Alcock for the cover, who is set to soar this year as the new Supergirl.

“Like Margot and Milly, Sunday Rose embodies everything I think an Elle Australia cover star should be: beautiful, fascinating and on the precipice of big things.”

Make the most of your health, relationships, fitness and nutrition with our Live Well newsletter. Get it in your inbox every Monday.