Pixie Geldof at London Fashion Week Lia Toby / WENN.com

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Earlier this month, Pixie Geldof, Daisy Lowe and Alice Dellal simultaneously ditched their model agency Select and moved to Next.

Select denied they had been pushed out, and quashed rumours that their partying was to blame for a recent lack of work.

Not that they had ever “worked” the way other models do. Over at ­Select, the three were part of the rather patronisingly named Talent Division. Which translates as “a bit on the short side, but has famous parents and social cachet”.

Their main purpose was to spice up London Fashion Week catwalks, and star in Agent Provocateur ­campaigns. They were very good at it too, appearing in big shows such as Vivienne Westwood, Luella Bartley and PPQ for almost two years.

The gimmick worked in part ­because these girls’ comparatively normal looks were refreshing. The British press loved it, and not just ­because we’re suckers for celebrities.

Daisy Lowe'ssashay at Vivienne Westwood spawned endless column inches about “real” beauties, with curves and confidence, replacing alien-looking models with unpronounceable surnames. The wrath unleashed on these Eastern European waifs ­bordered on offensive.

But it was true that, bar Agyness Deyn, models with charisma had been thin on the ground since Kate Moss’s heyday. When a recognisable figure appears on the catwalk there’s a little jolt in the half asleep audience – no wonder the press approved.

Meanwhile, Joe Public was torn. Second-generation celebrities are not most people’s favourite people. They come with a ready-made “don’t you know who I am” smirk, minus their ­parents’ success. They swan around lapping up freebies and ­falling over drunk between A-levels.

In fact, these normal-looking girls on catwalks incited more jealousy online than physical perfection ever could. Apparently, nepotism is the greatest sin of all. Holy Moly’s ­message board is still awash with ­attacks on Pixie Geldof's and Alice Dellal's modelling credentials.

So for the time being, there is an end of an era in fashion. The end of the “celebrity model” era. Or, more specifically, the “celebrity’s offspring model” era. Emma Watson, if that US university thing doesn’t work out…