Paris Hilton Finally Gets Her Fashion Due

Paris Hilton not only pioneered a new type of celebrity back in the Aughts, but she helped define a certain kind of iconic style synonymous with the era. Though, at the time, the more exclusive rungs of the fashion world kept Hilton at a distance. Her major fashion magazine covers were rare (and always controversial), she wasn’t a regular in the front row of Paris couture shows, and she never fronted a campaign for a storied European house.

Though with everyone recently channeling her ’00s style, a recent documentary putting her image into new context, and her iteration of fame proving prophetic, Hilton is finally getting her due as a respectable force of fashion. Indeed, along with sister Nicky Hilton Rothschild and mother Kathy Hilton, Hilton just scored a gig for Valentino promoting their Roman Stud bag. Shot at the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles, the family is dressed in the brand’s resort 2021 collection. It serves as something of an overdue confirmation of the Hiltons’ style icon status.

Over the past few years, elements of Paris’s trademark style have both been reinterpreted on major runways and all over Instagram: the “going out top,” Juicy Couture tracksuits, and bedazzled mini-dresses have all had their moments. Hilton is aware of her influence. “To now see things on the runway, and to see girls wearing things that I used to wear is really cool, because nobody really dressed like me back in the day,” she told W in 2017.

Hilton also recently appeared in a video to promote Coach’s nostalgia-inducing “Swinger” bag, and in 2018 channeled Kim Kardashian’s style for a Yeezy campaign.

Hilton has also reemerged as a cultural force in other ways. A movie script chronicling her ongoing feud with Lindsay Lohan and brief friendship with Britney Spears recently made the buzzy annual Black List as one of Hollywood’s hottest un-produced projects.

Related: Why Is Paris Hilton’s 21st Birthday Dress Suddenly Seemingly Everywhere?