Kelly Rutherford Loves When You Call Her Birkin Mom

former star of Gosszp Gir! has morphed into Instagram’s new favorite quiet luxury icon.

- JESSICA ROY

She goes by many names: There's Lily van der Woodsen, the slightly tortured, oft-married but deeply devoted mother on the mid-aughts hit show Gossip Girl. Then there's "Mom," which is what her two real-life kids, Hermés, 17, and Helena, 15, call her. There's also "The Mother," a term of endearment and respect bestowed upon her by the internet for her iconic style, as well as "Birkin Mom," an homage to her storied collection of Hermès Birkin bags. And then, of course, there's her real name: Kelly Rutherford.

Rutherford is carrying another one of those Hermès bags-a black leather Constance bag with gold hardware-when she arrives at the Maison Delano hotel in Paris's Eighth Arrondissement for our interview in mid-May, dressed in an Aspesi raincoat, a simple white Hanro T-shirt, black Massimo Dutti slingbacks, and a black faux leather Munthe skirt with floral cutouts. Her hair is pulled back in a simple chignon, and she exudes the casual, natural beauty typically attributed exclusively to the French. She orders a cappuccino (regular milk!) and settles in to discuss her life as an actress, style influencer, mother, and "The Mother."

"I like "The Mother," Rutherford says of her online nicknames. "Like when people call you 'The Mother,' there couldn't be a bigger, better thing for me. I think it's beautiful. It's the highest compliment. And so I think that 'Birkin Mom' is always so cute."