Ava Dash is an American model, author and reality television personality who has built a career in fashion while stepping into a wider spotlight on Bravo’s Next Gen NYC. Born into a prominent fashion and music family, she is the eldest daughter of designer Rachel Roy and entrepreneur and Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Damon Dash. She has since developed a professional identity of her own through modeling, publishing, advocacy work and television.
Born on December 7, 1999, Dash is 26 years old as of September 2026. Her career stretches back further than her reality television appearances: she modeled as a child, pursued professional representation as a teenager, co-authored the young-adult novel 96 Words for Love, and later signed with Ford Models. Next Gen NYC has introduced that background to a much larger television audience.
Ava Dash Quick Facts
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full name | Ava Dash |
| Date of birth | December 7, 1999 |
| Age | 26 years old |
| Birthplace | New York City, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Profession | Model, author, creator and reality TV personality |
| Mother | Rachel Roy |
| Father | Damon Dash |
| Sister | Tallulah Dash |
| Education | Loyola Marymount University |
| Modeling agency | Ford Models |
| Height | 5 feet 9 inches (175 cm) |
| Known for | Modeling, Next Gen NYC, 96 Words for Love |
| Book | 96 Words for Love |
| Relationship status | Single as of September 2026 |
| Official website | Ava Dash’s official website |
Who Is Ava Dash?
Ava Dash is a New York-born model who has gradually moved from being known primarily through her famous parents to establishing her own place in fashion and entertainment. Her mother, Rachel Roy, is a fashion designer, while her father, Damon Dash, became a major figure in hip-hop business through Roc-A-Fella Records and Rocawear.
Fashion was therefore part of Dash’s environment well before she considered it a profession. She has recalled modeling for Rocawear when she was only a few years old and spending her childhood around fashion shows, campaigns and her mother’s work.
That early exposure eventually developed into a professional career rather than remaining a family connection. Dash pursued modeling as a teenager, later worked with established brands and publications, and signed with Ford Models in 2025. Her current Ford profile lists her at 5 feet 9 inches tall, with dark brown hair and brown eyes.
Her profile expanded again when she joined Next Gen NYC. The Bravo series follows a group of young New Yorkers, several from well-known families, as they navigate careers, relationships and adult life in the city. By its second season, Dash’s work, friendships and dating life had become recurring parts of the show.
How Old Is Ava Dash?
Ava Dash was born on December 7, 1999, making her 26 years old as of September 2026. Bravo’s current biographical coverage confirms both her birthday and age.
She was born in New York City and spent much of her childhood in Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood. She later moved to Los Angeles, where she continued her education and developed her modeling career before eventually returning to New York.
Her age is worth clarifying because older profiles still contain information written when she was a teenager or college student. Those descriptions no longer reflect her current career or stage of life.
Ava Dash’s Parents Are Rachel Roy and Damon Dash
Ava’s parents are Rachel Roy and Damon Dash, two figures associated with different sides of the fashion and entertainment industries.
Rachel Roy established herself as a fashion designer and creative director. Her family background also connects Ava to Indian and Dutch heritage: Hachette describes Roy as the daughter of an Indian immigrant father and a Dutch mother.
Damon Dash rose to prominence as a co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records and later became involved in Rocawear and numerous entrepreneurial ventures. Growing up around those businesses gave Ava an unusually close view of both fashion and entertainment.
She has nevertheless spoken about building a professional identity beyond her surname. Her official biography describes her as carving out her own path, a distinction that has become more meaningful as her modeling and television careers have expanded.
Ava also has a younger full sister, Tallulah Dash. Hachette’s biography of Rachel Roy identifies Roy as the mother of both Ava and Tallulah.
Growing Up Around Fashion and Music
Ava’s connection with modeling began long before she signed with a major agency. She has said that she appeared in Rocawear campaigns when she was approximately four years old, giving her experience in front of a camera at an age when modeling was still simply part of her family environment.
As she became older, that familiarity developed into a genuine professional interest. Model Chanel Iman was one of the figures who influenced her ambitions. Dash has explained in interviews that seeing Iman succeed in major fashion publications helped her imagine a similar career for herself.
Her route into professional modeling eventually came through an ordinary teenage job rather than a formal family introduction. While working at Brandy Melville during high school, she was scouted and subsequently signed with DT Model Management at 17.
That progression is important to understanding her career. Although Dash had access to fashion from childhood, her adult modeling work developed through agency representation and professional assignments rather than solely through appearances connected to her parents.
Ava Dash’s Modeling Career
Modeling has become the central part of Dash’s professional identity.
Her work has included fashion campaigns, editorial appearances and collaborations. Over time, she has also combined traditional modeling with the type of creator and brand work that has become increasingly common in the contemporary fashion industry.
One notable project arrived in 2023, when she participated in a PETA campaign encouraging consumers to avoid exotic animal skins and consider vegan fashion accessories. Her official biography also highlights collaborations involving UGG and The Teen Project.
A major career development followed in 2025, when Dash signed with Ford Models, one of the industry’s established modeling agencies. Her current agency profile confirms her representation and lists her professional height as 5 feet 9 inches, or 175 centimeters.
Signing with Ford coincided with a period in which her public profile was expanding beyond fashion. Television brought her work and personal life to viewers who may not previously have followed her modeling career.
Ava Dash on Next Gen NYC
Ava Dash joined Bravo’s Next Gen NYC when the series premiered in 2025. Her official biography describes her as one of the show’s leading personalities, and she returned as the series continued into its second season.
The show places Dash among other young adults navigating careers and relationships in New York, including several cast members who also grew up with recognizable family names.
For Dash, the series has provided a platform to show more than her modeling portfolio. Viewers have seen her discuss professional ambitions, friendships, finances, family relationships and dating.
Season 2 significantly increased attention around her personal life. Her interactions with Shai Fruchter became part of the season and its reunion coverage, while reports about her spending time with Summer House personality Kyle Cooke generated additional speculation.
That exposure has also made Next Gen NYC one of the main reasons people now search for Ava Dash, shifting her public identity from celebrity daughter and model toward a television personality with an audience of her own.
Where Did Ava Dash Go to College?
Dash attended Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and graduated in 2022.
This is another area where older online biographies can be misleading. Some publisher biographies written while she was younger still state that she “attends college” and lives in Los Angeles. Hachette’s older author biography, for example, preserves that description because it reflects her circumstances around the publication of 96 Words for Love.
Her college years formed part of a longer period living in Los Angeles. After graduating, she returned to New York, bringing her closer to the city where she had spent much of her childhood and where her fashion and television careers would increasingly develop.
Reliable public sources do not consistently establish her exact college major, so claims assigning her a specific degree subject should be treated cautiously.
She Co-Authored 96 Words for Love With Rachel Roy
Modeling is not Dash’s only established professional credit.
She and her mother co-authored the young-adult novel 96 Words for Love, published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers on January 15, 2019. The 320-page novel includes a foreword by bestselling author James Patterson.
The book is a contemporary coming-of-age story inspired by a classic Indian legend. Its protagonist, Raya Liston, travels to an ashram in India following her grandmother’s death and begins exploring family history, identity, relationships and her own future.
The project also reflected Dash’s connection with her maternal heritage and charitable interests. Her official biography says proceeds from the book support young survivors of sex trafficking in India.
Publishing 96 Words for Love before her television career is an important part of her professional chronology. By the time Next Gen NYC premiered, she already had documented experience in modeling, publishing and advocacy.
Ava Dash’s Charity and Advocacy Work Started as a Teenager
Dash’s involvement with social causes also predates her reality television fame.
Her public work has included support for young adults transitioning out of the foster care system and girls and young women affected by sex trafficking in India. Hachette’s author biography specifically documents those interests.
She has also connected advocacy with fashion. Her PETA campaign focused on alternatives to exotic skins, while earlier work involving The Teen Project addressed the needs of young people leaving foster care.
Rather than appearing as a recent addition to her public image, this work has been documented since her teenage years and has remained part of how she describes her interests as her fashion career has developed.
Who Is Ava Dash Dating?
Ava Dash is single as of September 2026, according to Bravo’s post-Next Gen NYC Season 2 coverage.
Her dating history has nevertheless attracted substantial attention because several relationships and rumored romances have been covered publicly.
She was previously linked to Conor Kennedy, a member of the Kennedy family. Later, Dash dated professional wrestler Hook, whose real name is Tyler Senerchia. That relationship was part of the conversation surrounding her first season of Next Gen NYC but subsequently ended.
Season 2 introduced another storyline involving cast member Shai Fruchter. The two flirted and kissed, and reunion coverage revisited what happened between them. Bravo’s current reporting says their connection eventually fizzled and they are not currently a couple.
Dash was also linked to Kyle Cooke after the pair spent time together in the Hamptons. Both acknowledged that they kissed, but Cooke described them as friends, and the available evidence does not support describing him as Dash’s current boyfriend.
That distinction matters because dating stories surrounding reality personalities can quickly become outdated. Current reporting supports describing Dash as single rather than attaching her to any of those previous or rumored relationships.
How Tall Is Ava Dash?
Ava Dash is 5 feet 9 inches (175 cm) tall, according to her professional profile with Ford Models.
The agency also lists her with dark brown hair and brown eyes. Because these measurements come directly from her current modeling representation, they provide a considerably stronger source than estimates published by general celebrity biography websites.
Her height is particularly relevant because modeling remains her principal professional field even as television has expanded her public profile.
What Is Ava Dash’s Net Worth?
Ava Dash’s personal net worth has not been reliably disclosed.
Various celebrity-focused websites may publish estimates, but there is no authoritative public financial record or sufficiently reliable estimate establishing a specific figure. Her parents’ wealth should also not be treated as evidence of her own finances.
What can be documented is that Dash has several professional avenues through which she works: modeling, reality television, publishing, creator work and brand collaborations.
Without reliable financial documentation, assigning a precise dollar amount would create a level of certainty that the available evidence does not support.
Ava Dash Is Building an Identity Beyond Her Famous Family
Being Rachel Roy and Damon Dash’s daughter remains an unavoidable part of Ava Dash’s biography, but it no longer explains the entirety of her public relevance.
Her professional history now stretches across several distinct stages: childhood exposure to fashion, professional modeling as a teenager, publication of 96 Words for Love, college graduation, fashion campaigns, Ford Models representation and reality television.
That progression also explains why her role on Next Gen NYC has resonated differently from a simple celebrity-family appearance. The series arrived after she had already spent years developing professional interests of her own.
As her visibility has increased, the balance of her public identity has consequently shifted. Her family name introduced her to many audiences, while modeling and television have increasingly become the reasons they continue following her.
Conclusion
Ava Dash has developed a public career that extends well beyond her connection to Rachel Roy and Damon Dash. At 26, she is represented by Ford Models, has a published young-adult novel to her name and has become a recognizable television personality through Next Gen NYC.
Her background in fashion helped introduce her to the industry early, but her professional modeling, publishing and television work now form an independent career. As of September 2026, she remains active in fashion and entertainment while continuing to build her profile in New York.
Frequently Asked Questions
How old is Ava Dash?
Ava Dash is 26 years old as of September 2026. She was born on December 7, 1999.
Who are Ava Dash’s parents?
Her parents are fashion designer Rachel Roy and entrepreneur and Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Damon Dash. She also has a younger sister, Tallulah Dash.
What does Ava Dash do for a living?
Dash is a professional model represented by Ford Models. She is also an author, creator and reality television personality known for Bravo’s Next Gen NYC.
Where did Ava Dash go to college?
She attended Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and graduated in 2022. Older biographies describing her as a current college student are outdated.
Is Ava Dash dating Kyle Cooke?
Current evidence does not establish Ava Dash and Kyle Cooke as a couple. They acknowledged kissing and spending time together, but Cooke characterized their relationship as a friendship. Bravo reported in September 2026 that Dash was single.
What book did Ava Dash write?
Ava Dash co-authored 96 Words for Love with her mother, Rachel Roy. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers published the novel on January 15, 2019.
