Long before The Simple Life, the catchphrases, and the caricature, Paris Hilton was an 18-year-old in Paris, standing in a room at Valentino’s house, waiting for Karl Lagerfeld to walk in.
“My first memory of Karl was when I was 18 in Paris for Fashion Week,” the former GRAZIA cover star says. “I remember he walked in, and I was so excited, because I had always loved him since I was a little girl.”
They met again soon after. “We did a photo shoot together, and he was just so kind and lovely.” Then, as these things tend to go in fashion, their paths kept crossing — Paris, New York, Los Angeles. “Anytime I would see him… we would always talk.”
What she holds onto is not just the access, but the timing. “Karl met me in the beginning. I was a teenager, I had not done The Simple Life yet, and right away, we just connected.
“I’ll never forget that he told me The Simple Life was one of his favorite shows.” Lagerfeld, who spent decades redefining Chanel, Chloé, and Fendi, had already taken notice — before the rest of the world decided what to make of her. Later, she would DJ his birthday party. “So epic, so iconic,” she recalls, almost offhandedly.
On April 20, that early recognition came back into focus. Karl Lagerfeld Paris celebrated its Spring/Summer 2026 campaign, “From Paris, With Love,” with Hilton as its face — staging a takeover that only really works in New York City. Herald Square filled with café tables, coffee carts, and trays of pain au chocolat, anchored by a double-decker bus wrapped in the campaign at its center. By nightfall, Hilton had climbed to the top, DJing for the city goers.
“When I was flying over last night, I was doing my set the whole flight with a lot of Y2K songs,” she tells us. “I just wanted to bring the energy and play iconic songs for today.”
Hilton has worked with the brand before, but this time carries a different weight. “It was incredible to shoot it in Paris, where Karl worked and created all his collections,” she says. Now, the images run across Paris, New York, and Los Angeles — cities that have long functioned as stages for both of them. On the drive to the Waldorf, she spots herself on buses along the route. The scale registers, but it doesn’t surprise her. She knows what it means to be seen, and how long it can take to be understood.
There is still a tendency to reduce her to a fixed idea — the heiress, the persona, the influencer. But that framing leaves out the rest: the business she built, the DJ career she continues to shape, and the advocacy work she has taken on with increasing seriousness. Lagerfeld, notably, did not make that mistake.
“I feel like we’re very similar in many ways,” she lets us in on. “I’m honored to be part of this campaign and to represent Karl’s legacy.”
The comparison holds. Both became figures others tried to explain, and both understood how to stay ahead of the explanation.
She doesn’t overcomplicate it. “I am proud every day to be the woman that I am.”
