Harry Brant, New York socialite and son of model Stephanie Seymour, dies at 24

New York socialite Harry Brant, the middle child of veteran supermodel Stephanie Seymour and businessman and publisher Peter Brant, has died. He was 24.

Brant was found dead Sunday after an accidental overdose of prescription drugs, his family said in a Monday statement to the New York Times. He had struggled with addiction for years.

“We will forever be saddened that his life was cut short by this devastating disease,” the statement said. “He achieved a lot in his 24 years, but we will never get the chance to see how much more Harry could have done.”

The rising model had planned to enter a new drug rehab center this year, his family said, and eventually play a larger role on the creative side of Interview magazine — the glossy created by artist Andy Warhol and published by Brant’s father, an industrialist and art collector who served as a MOCA trustee.

“An artist’s life would be very difficult. It takes a lot out of you. I could never be a painter,” Harry Brant, still in high school, told Interview in a 2012 piece. “I don’t think I have the talent or skill or persistence. I don’t exactly know what I want to do. That’s what I’m trying to pinpoint. I definitely want to do something with a creative aspect that encompasses fashion, art, and beauty.”

He had an older brother, Peter Brant II, and the two were dubbed “the Brant brothers,” “It” boys of the New York party scene who made numerous joint appearances and frequent collaborations. They also had a younger sister, Lily Margaret Brant, and several half siblings from their parents’ other marriages.

Brant grew up in Greenwich, Conn., but was an omnipresent socialite in New York’s art and style scenes thanks to his parents’ connections. Brant wrote for his father’s magazine as a teenager and occasionally modeled, appearing in a campaign for Balmain and in Italian Vogue, as well as in countless fashion-show front rows.

He and Peter also launched a unisex makeup line for MAC Cosmetics in 2015. Their obsession with cosmetics began while watching their mother get ready for red carpets and fashion shows. Together, the brothers pushed the boundaries of gender stereotypes.

In 2020 Brant interviewed American designer Marc Jacobs for an Interview piece about men wearing makeup. Brant said that it was “almost like a sense of armor that can be wielded whichever way I want, as a completely transformative form of self-expression.”

“Harry was not just our son,” the family’s statement added. “He was also a wonderful brother, loving grandson, favorite uncle and a caring friend. He was a creative, loving and powerful soul that brought light into so many people’s hearts. He was truly a beautiful person inside and out.”