At 25, David and Victoria’s eldest—arguably the poshest, most famous, and least understood child—has finally found his calling.
Brooklyn Peltz Beckham has a refined palette. His favorite dish is the roast chicken at L’Ami Louis, the Parisian culinary institution once dubbed “the world’s most famous bistro” by The New York Times. His favorite type of cuisine is Japanese, so, if you can’t quickly jaunt to Tokyo (like a Beckam hypothetically could), he suggests a visit to Manhattan’s Michelin-starred Sushi Yasuda, the Omakase-style joint in Midtown that has been open since 1999. For a night cap, pour him Hibiki whisky or Pappy Van Winkle, a “very expensive” bourbon he’s only drank with his superstar dad, David, because of its hefty price tag. And no, his favorite Spice Girls song isn’t something ludicrously basic like the zig-a-zig-ah-ssified “Wannabe”; It’s “Holler,” because, taste.
Casually dressed in a black T-shirt with jeans, a denim jacket, and an Inter Miami CF–branded Major League Soccer trucker hat (his father co-owns the team), Peltz Beckham, doesn’t look like the fresh prince of one of Britain’s finest families. Right now, he is just a guy who needs food. “Sorry, I’m starving,” he says apologetically before politely sipping soda and chowing down on a tuna melt at Sadelle’s, the TikTok-viral Major Food Group (Carbone, Dirty French, The Grill) brunch spot in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood.
It’s the Friday before Met Gala Monday, when he’ll make a splashy solo appearance wearing Dior, and Peltz Beckham is keeping it cool, calm, and collected, smack-dab in the center of the Sadelle’s dining room among patrons who are keenly aware of his nondescript, nonetheless magnetic presence, but too shy to make a move for an autograph (though it seems he’d welcome a gentle greeting). He’s used to being gawked at and whispered about, so this, meeting a writer to be probed about his private life, is par for the course.
If you think the reality of growing up Beckham entails jet-setting across the world and dancing to “Spice Up Your Life,” that’s not not true. “I had a crazy childhood, man. I was so happy,” Peltz Beckham says. “It was hectic because my dad played football and my mum was a Spice Girl. Spice Girls was the first few years of my life, so it was hectic. We were always doing something. But, I have the best mum and dad in the world and it was a lot of fun.”
The Spice Girls were just around. Duh. “I used to go to all the concerts—really good memories,” he says. “I wouldn’t change anything. Everyone’s always like, ‘How is it like to have famous parents?’ I’m like, ‘Honestly, they’re just my mum and dad.’ I don’t think of them any other way.”
Peltz Beckham’s upbringing was unmistakably worldly. He was born in London and raised between Manchester, Madrid, Los Angeles, and Milan. If his mother Victoria’s “working class” young-adult life was punctuated by being driven to school in her father’s Rolls-Royce, Peltz Beckham’s was that…times a few million.
At four months old, Peltz Beckham memorably attended David and Victoria’s luxurious wedding at a castle in Ireland dressed in an all-purple suit that matched his parents’ Antonio Berardi after-party looks. “I always know how long they’ve been married because it’s just my age,” he says, casually shrugging off reminders that his parents are literally the David and Victoria Beckham.
Being surrounded by cameras has always been a part of the norm. “I love paparazzi, man. They’re so lovely. They’re such nice people,” he says sarcastically. “No…they’ve always been there. I just try and forget about them, do my thing. But yeah, they’re fine.”
Family, he says, is of the utmost importance to him. He smiles when speaking about his parents and his siblings, Romeo, Cruz, and Harper, whom he tries to be a role model for. Between takes of his InStyle photoshoot, Peltz Beckham’s FaceTime call log includes his parents, one or two siblings, and, of course, his “missus” Nicola Peltz Beckham, who dialed in to check on Lamb, their adorable pup that posed with Peltz Beckham on set.
He speaks about Nicola, an actress, director, entrepreneur, and daughter of billionaire businessman Nelson Peltz and model Claudia Heffner Peltz, lovingly, making sure to answer rapid fire interview questions about his personal life with her in mind. The two married in 2022 in a lavish ceremony at the Peltz family estate in Palm Beach. The bride wore custom Valentino Haute Couture; the groom wore custom Dior. They appeared as newlyweds on the cover of British Vogue shortly after.
Following their wedding, they chose to adopt the Peltz Beckham surname. “I wanted to honor my wife’s last name as well, and we thought about it for so long and we were just like, ‘When we have kids, we would love to have little Peltz Beckhams running about,’” he says. “I just thought it was a cute idea to have both, two last names.”
Kids are for sure a topic of discussion at Peltz Beckham HQ in L.A., where they live with their family of five dogs. “I always wanted to be a young dad, but, obviously, [it’s] up to my wife. My wife really wants kids as well. So soon, hopefully.”
Before babies, work comes first. And as of late, he says he’s been grinding. Peltz Beckham is the textbook definition of nepotism, a handsome and charming guy with a household last name. Posh, but make it Gen Z. So naturally, for all of his adulthood, people have wondered: What does Brooklyn Peltz Beckham…do?
As a kid, he thought he’d follow in his father’s professional athlete footsteps, joining various U.K. soccer leagues before dabbling in photography at Parsons School of Design and then shooting campaigns for Burberry while modeling on the side. “I always wanted to go the football route. I played for a long time. I loved it so much. I just didn’t have the right head for it,” Peltz Beckham says. “When you’re growing up, especially with the dad that I had, everyone’s like, ‘Oh, the oldest son’s going to be a footballer.’ And I loved it. I really, really, really did, and I miss it so much.”
"I did football—that didn’t work out. Then I went into photography. I had a lot of fun with that for a few years. And then, what else did I do? I’ve always done a bit of modeling,” he says, explaining David and Victoria never pressured him to follow any particular career path. “They didn’t care what I did or what I wanted to do. But, they were just like, ‘As long as you’re nice, you’re humble, and you work hard and you put your head down, that’s the most important thing,’” Peltz Beckham says. “‘You can do whatever you want and it’s whatever you choose to do—try and be the best at that.’”
At 25, he seems to have figured it out. This September, with Whole Foods as a launch partner, he’ll release products under an umbrella called Cloud23, a company he describes quite carefully. “I can’t say what, exactly, it is, but it’s in the food space,” he says, explaining the brand name is inspired by June 23, the date he proposed to Nicola, and also the number 23, his dad's football jersey (the idea came to him in a dream).
“It’s been a passion project of mine for the last two-and-a-half years, something I’ve literally put everything into,” Peltz Beckham says, explaining food—the art of cooking, being in the kitchen, sharing a meal with loved ones—is his passion. “I’ve never worked so hard on anything in my life. What I’m releasing is something that hasn’t been done before. I like to be the first one to do something interesting. I found this amazing white space, and it came out amazing and [I’m just] excited for people to try it.”
After moonlighting as a chef on social media and co-founding a sake company called WeSake in 2023, Peltz Beckham continued having aha moments in the kitchen. “I did about a month of research and [asked myself], ‘What can I get into? What hasn’t been done?’ I landed on something and was like, ‘How can I make this me?’ I was so confused. I was at home and literally my wife was like, ‘Why don’t you do this? Why don’t you do your own version of that?’ Luckily, what I wanted to create hasn’t been done before yet, and I’ve worked on it, found great partners. It took time, but it happened.” Behind every man is a great woman, right?
Peltz Beckham says he put elbow grease into creating Cloud23. “I had to find a distributor … finding a CEO is very difficult, especially for a startup. The first year was just me—I put a lot of money to start it on my own and then, maybe under a year ago, got investors,” he says, trailing off to describe details about the product that remain strictly under embargo. Here’s a hint: “It's nice, because it's so broad. You can use it in spicy margaritas, you can use it on chicken, you can use it on sushi.”
He acknowledges his privilege, how being a Beckham certainly opens doors that stay locked for others. “Obviously, I’ve been so fortunate to get these opportunities where [my last name] does help. But when it comes out in September, I think people are going to be like, wow,” he says. “Some people are going to be like, ‘Oh, that’s shit.’ Or, whatever. I’ve just come to terms where I’m like, that’s always going to happen. I’m always going to get that. My mum and dad always say, ‘Just put your head down, work your ass off, and be nice to people.’ That’s what I’ve done, so I'm really excited for September.”
I remind Peltz Beckham his Facebook Watch reality show, Cookin’ With Brooklyn, plus countless IG Reels and TikToks of him in the kitchen, are actively mocked in a similar way that Kendall Jenner’s knife-cutting skills were ridiculed online. “I’m so used to it,” he says. “It makes me… I kind of like it, in a way, just because it makes me really want to prove to people… Until two years ago, I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. I think with all the rubbish I get, my mum's just like, ‘Prove them wrong. Never respond to that rubbish, just prove them wrong.’”
But does it sting to be accused of nepotism even though his existence as a nepo baby is just a fact? “I mean, I can’t help how I was born,” he says. “I couldn’t ask for better parents and I’m just trying to work my ass off and trying to make a name for myself. That’s all I can say, really.”
Back at Sadelle’s, Peltz Beckham keeps his head down between tuna melt bites, comfortably blending in with brunchers and thanking the wait staff for every fresh pour of tap water, sweet please and thank you’s peppered between sentences.
“I think what I wanted for so long—especially the last few years—is I really wanted to make a name for myself,” he says, before describing his definition of success. “I'm always going to have haters and that's fine, and it's probably going to get worse. I hope not, but I'm excited for people to try [Cloud23] and I don't know, what else can I say? Where would I want my business to be in 20 years? I want my product to be [everywhere]. I would love to have my own restaurant. You have to be happy to be successful. That’s important.”
He says his ultimate professional goal is to be a businessman, though he doesn’t consider himself one yet. For now, he’s satisfied with his resume: “I'm just a happy man. That's my occupation.”
Top sheets, yay or nay?
Top sheets? What's that?
The sheet between a duvet and a fitted sheet.
Oh, like two covers? Oh, no. I like it freezing. It's the only thing me and my wife argue about—the temperature in the room. [My ideal temperature,] I would say, is 62, 63. My wife has it at like 80.
Who is your mentor?
My dad.
What's your email sign-off?
Cheers.
Favorite tattoo?
Probably my vows. Took the longest. I went to the tattoo guy, Docta Woo in L.A., and I was like, "This is what I want." He was like, "For fuck's sake, really?" Because he does all these amazing delicate tattoos and I was like, "I just want a massive paragraph." And he was like, "All right." It took like five and a half hours.
Last show you binge-watched?
Gilmore Girls. My favorite show ever.
Most recent photo on your phone?
Let me see. It was my new watch, of me playing pool last night. I got a new watch yesterday and that was my last photo.
Your comfort meal.
Fish and chips. No, sorry. Bangers and mash.
Cardio or weightlifting?
Weightlifting.
Favorite cocktail or mocktail?
Favorite cocktail is a lychee martini. I don't ever drink cocktails, but if I had to, that would be the one. You can't really get them anywhere though. Really. Most bars are like, "We don't have lychee.”
Credits
- PhotographerNagi Sakai
- CinematographerCory Green
- StylistKevin Huynh
- GroomingMonica Alvarez
- ACDanny Benevento
- Styling AssistantAmber Rambharose
- Special ThanksPolaroid