Anaïs Gallagher is stepping into her own Britpop summer

This is shaping up to be the summer of Anaïs Gallagher. Sure, she’ll be perched stage-side at her father Noel Gallagher’s much-anticipated Oasis reunion shows, but with her quiet confidence and a refreshingly nonchalant attitude, Anaïs is poised to make waves far beyond the golden glow of Wembley.

It’s a dreary London morning when the 25-year-old and I sit down for coffee at the Ham Yard Hotel in London’s Soho. She’s sporting a sugar pink workout set (very balletcore) and teal Salomon XT-6s. Her platinum hair is swept up in a high ponytail and secured with a coordinating baby pink scrunchie.

She’s come straight from Pilates – fresh-faced, casual and entirely at ease.

Conscious not to dive into the ‘nepo baby’ debate too prematurely, I steer the discussion toward neutral ground – her love for cooking (she’s a self-professed foodie who is absolutely unafraid to tackle offal), Bicester Village’s excellent Le Creuset outlet and adventures in Seoul.

Fairly early on in the conversation, it’s clear to see Anaïs is a chip off the old block. “We’re very unapologetically ourselves as a family,” she says, discussing her parents without a hint of reluctance. “I’ve always thought that it’s way better to be hated for something that you are, than loved for something that you’re not. I’d rather people really seriously dislike me based on truth rather than say ‘she’s great and I love her’ based on a lie.”

The only daughter of the Oasis legend and Meg Mathews, the London-born creative is carving out her own path. Storytelling is her bread and butter, a passion narrated through her work as a photographer. A UAL graduate, Anaïs honed her craft by collaborating with her inner circle, spanning models, actors and, unsurprisingly, musicians.

A brief flick through her social media feed and you’ll find beautifully raw portraits of her friends, Australian model Gabriella Brooks, Sex Education actor Edward Bluemel, Yungblud and Sam Fender. Her father features prominently in her portfolio, having lensed his autobiographical docu-series The Making of Council Skies, released a year after the fourth studio album of the same name by Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds: “When I started taking photos of my dad, I always wanted to show him in the way that I saw him. It’s the same with my friends, whether they are an actor or musician – I’ve always loved this idea of lifting the veil.” She continues: “I’ve grown up with a dad that I see one way but everyone else sees another way. I will say though, my dad is exactly how you’d imagine him to be – it’s definitely not a character.”

She lights up as she discusses her work: “I’ve always felt a need to portray people as their most honest selves. I’ve really loved that aspect of taking photos with my friends because I feel like I know them in a very different way that other people know them and I want to share that.”

This naked approach echoes the work of photographer Jill Furmanovsky, who Anaïs cites as her biggest creative influence: “She actually took a lot of photos with my dad when he was first starting out. If you wanna know what it’s like to take a photo of a musician and completely capture them as who they are, she’s the pinnacle. She’s taken some incredible photos of people like Bob Marley, Amy Winehouse, The Who and Oasis – she’s just the best.”

Inevitably, the multi-hyphenate became the designated Instagram photographer for her friends, feeling much more at home behind the lens than in front of it. “I always think I’m gonna love having my photo taken and I actually really hate it. Usually because you see the photographer do something that you wouldn’t do, so I find it quite uncomfortable.”

From the H! Fashion June/July issue, you’d never be able to tell. Shot in Margate, the cover shoot tapped into quintessential British nostalgia, drenched in beachside spring sunshine with Anaïs decked out in Dior – ice-cream cone in hand.

Inspired by a 1994 image of her father, mod haircut and blacked-out shades very much included, the reference was a tongue-in-cheek celebration of 90s British culture, one defined by a punk attitude and Fred Perry polo shirts.

It’s clear that a search for authenticity fuels all that Anaïs does. So, as a content creator, how does social media and its faux niceties come into play? “You have to look at social media as fun. I think I’m in a really unique position in that I never decided I wanted to be an influencer. I posted on my Instagram as a normal teenager would, and then, because of who my dad was, initially, I got a lot of followers.” She adds: “I try to navigate social media exactly the same way as my friends who would have a private account of 100 people following it. My biggest criticism of certain influencers is that their feed feels like a magazine.”

The mere thought of disingenuousness sparks frustration within her: “I think the squeaky cleanness of [social media] makes me feel really uncomfortable. People won’t swear, they won’t share political opinions. They won’t look ugly – I find it mad. I’m never ever going to not talk about how hungover I am or how ill I feel or how much of a great night out I had or my political opinions or things that I like and I dislike.

“I understand that if you censor yourself it’s more attractive to brands – I get it, but I don’t want to be a mannequin through which to sell products. So, [social media] doesn’t feel stressful to me because I’m not thinking ‘What is my engagement gonna be on this’ or ‘what are people gonna say about that’ because it’s an opinion that I stand by so wholeheartedly.”    

Her opinions made the headlines last summer. Following the announcement of Oasis’ 2025 reunion, Anaïs openly criticised “ageism and misogyny” among diehard fans who feared they would miss out on tickets to the younger generation. “People really love to hate on anything that young women like and it’s really fascinating to me that young women want to go and see Taylor Swift and they’re criticised because apparently it’s not cool or it’s embarrassing – and then young women want to go see Oasis and they’re not allowed. So, where are young women allowed to take up space?”

She says her dad would deeply disapprove of this attitude to younger fans, a lot of whom want to see the band with their parents who introduced them to the music: “People used the excuse of saying ‘you weren’t around’. As a huge music fan myself, loads of bands that I like split up or were dead even by the time that I came to listen to them.”

OG Britpop enthusiasts were known for their grit and gobby nature, bolstered by football hooliganism, bucket hats and Harrington jackets. Yet, the cover star identifies a misalignment with her father, who she described as the ‘one of the most sound people’, and his fanbase.   

“I see this all the time actually – where someone will post a funny video or a cover song and people would say ‘[Oasis] would hate this’. No, no, you hate this. Sometimes people put this hyper-aggressive masculine ideology into what they think that my dad and my uncle are going to be like. They’re actually a lot more accepting than the fans are.”

Together, Anaïs’ parents fostered a creative culture within the home, despite separating when she was a toddler. “The energy in my house was one of creativity. I was never going to be in a family in which I said ‘I want to study art at university’ and they were going to say ‘that’s not a real career’.”

Speaking of lifting the veil, what is her family, one mercilessly dissected by the tabloids and riddled with rumours of sibling feuds, actually like behind closed doors? “With my family, what you see is what you get. They are really hard-working people. With my dad, I would always go to him for help or advice – it’s very funny that a rock star from the 90s is like the most level-headed person I know. He’s definitely the guiding force in my life.”

And, the nepo baby label? “People are always gonna have a preconceived notion of how you’re going to act or what you’re going to be like. I think it doesn’t bother me anymore. When I was younger, I was embarrassed by the whole thing and much more concerned with proving them wrong. As long as I know who I am and my friends know who I am, then that’s fine.”

‘Woke’ Gen Zs generally are not so understanding of the subject, but this doesn’t phase Anaïs: “There are a lot more dangerous industries in which nepotism is around – look at Donald Trump’s sons. I would be far more concerned with people making legislation than an actor wanting to help out their daughter who wants to be an actress.”

She reflects on her own life and surname: “All my privilege and, in quotation marks, ‘luck’ has come from my financial stability – not my dad’s fame. I went to school with a lot of very wealthy people who probably had the exact same amount of privilege as me, but they wouldn’t get called a nepo baby because their dad’s a lawyer or a politician.

“My dad paid for my private education, he paid for my university degree. I was given money to live on so I didn’t have to get a job when I was at university. If I needed a new camera, he would buy me a new camera to help with my studies – all of those things made my life so much easier than my friends who had to struggle whilst they were studying. But I never wanted to be a musician, so him writing Wonderwall never really helped me out. But him having money? Yes.”

This summer is set to be a jam-packed season for the model. She’s currently working with Dior, a brand which slots neatly into her penchant for 40s clothing and timeless, structured style. Citing the Y2K trend as the enemy and structured tailoring as her kryptonite, Anaïs has carefully curated an archive of summer-ready looks, spanning vintage suits to 60s shift numbers and inherited Stone Island knits. As for her reunion tour looks? Hold this space.

In the meantime, she’s busy supporting her boyfriend, actor Callum Scott Howells (It’s A Sin), who is starring in Ghosts at the Lyric Hammersmith and participating in fundraising events for WWF – in addition to the odd Portobello Road meander in search of the perfect silk slip dress or pair of designer six-inch heels. (Kitten heel critic Anaïs says there is a gap in the market, people.)

“This year is gonna be pretty busy, so I’m just going to try and take it all in. In terms of my career, I want to get more into taking photos on film sets, that’s something that I really, really enjoyed doing last year and want to focus on. Then personally? Limit the amount of hangovers I have after all the Oasis concerts, remember to take my supplements and drink a lot of water.”

Zipping herself up in a fuzzy knitted cardigan to brace the grey English climate, Anaïs allows me to check the label of her perfect workout ’fit (one which Sabrina Carpenter would be envious of) before jetting off to a facial.

Call her what you like – photographer, model, content creator, daughter of a rock icon – Anaïs is carving out her own space in the creative world. Better yet, she’s refreshingly unfazed by what anyone thinks.

Legacy? Sure. But she’s too busy making one of her own.