You should know that Paris Hilton has the most beautiful porta-potty in all of Beverly Hills. It has gleaming wood panels in the stalls and steaming hot water in the sink, and the hand soap is from Aesop and costs $47.
The whole thing is extremely on-brand for Hilton, the 45-year-old avatar of luxury living whose hair remains the color of Malibu sand and whose résumé boasts more jobs than Barbie. These include—deep breath—addictive reality TV star, surprisingly capable pop singer, island-hopping DJ, nascent skin care CEO, dog mom turned actual mom, wildly successful perfume licensee, employer zero of Kim Kardashian, and congressional witness on behalf of exploited teens. Starting this week, Hilton’s gig roster also includes Old Navy muse, a job that Hilton swears aligns with her lifestyle of the very rich and very famous.
“I’m at Old Navy all the time, I really mean it,” she tells me from a film set in a sprawling mansion, which includes both a pool and a pond with paddle boats. (“Have you seen the turtles?!” she exclaims. “So cute.”) Hilton is here to film Old Navy’s summer campaign that also includes other reality royalty like the beloved Real Housewife Kathy Hilton (a.k.a. her mom) and the Summer House breakout babe Ciara Miller. Supervising the shoot is Zac Posen, the executive vice president of Gap Inc. and chief creative officer of Old Navy. Posen climbs out of an SUV at the top of the massive driveway and tells me about his first encounter with Hilton when they were both in high school.
“I was finally old enough to go out to clubs and parties,” he says. “She was always just so cool and so fun. She’s so smart, which people don’t discuss enough, but also, Paris was like the engine of any party. If she was there, you knew it would be the most fun night of your life. And that’s what we’re creating for the summer, inspired by Paris, really. Clothes that let you relax and just have the best time.” They’re also clothes with decidedly Y2K top notes—baby tees, handkerchief-hem skirts, cropped pastel sweatshirts—that nod to Hilton’s origins as the queen of the naughty aughties.
Here’s what Hilton told ELLE about her old and new style, advice for working with your mom, and memories of driving a getaway car with Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears. You know, just casual stuff.
You recently sat front row at the Gucci show in Milan. Now you’re shopping at Old Navy?
Actually, I always have! You know, I grew up going to the mall in L.A. and the Hamptons, so I’ve been buying their T-shirts and shorts and stuff for forever. I’ve always gone there.
There aren’t a ton of paparazzi shots of you at the mall. Do you use a secret entrance?
No, when I go, I always dress up in disguise: black wig, sweatsuit—and not, like, a bright pink sweatsuit, usually a gray one—sunglasses, hat pulled down really low. But sometimes people still figure it out and they’re like, “Paris?” And I try to put my finger to my lips, like it’s a fun secret. But you’re right, I can’t really just hang out at the mall, unfortunately, at least not as myself. If I just walked in with the pink everything and the blonde hair, it would be like Mickey Mouse at Disneyland. So I love to go undercover.
Are you good at it?
I’m great at it. I’ve had to do this for a long time.
Do you look at price tags when you’re shopping?
It depends. At Old Navy, the prices are so amazing it’s not really a concern. But if I’m somewhere where things are going to cost thousands of dollars, then yeah. Of course I do. I take value very, very seriously.
What’s your Old Navy haul right now?
I am a PJs girl. I’m a mom and I’m working all the time, but when I’m just chilling at home I love being cozy in PJs. I also love the Old Navy children’s line—there are so many cute things for the kids. And I love what Zac [Posen] has done with it. We’ve been friends since we were teenagers, so it’s really cool to be connecting in this way.
Zac said he based a lot of the new collection on your Y2K influence. You pioneered the pink tracksuit and the jelly shoes and the tiny denim mini kilts that girls are wearing again today. What’s it like to people on TikTok wearing “Paris Hilton-core” outfits?
It makes me so happy. They’ll come up to me like, “You’re the OG, you’re the reason I’m wearing this.” I always felt so ahead of my time in fashion—and I had no stylist, no publicist, no manager, no agent, nothing. I was just me going shopping, going downtown to Patricia Field in New York and all these cool stores, putting together looks during the New York socialite scene. No one was dressing like that. Some girls even made fun of me! Now seeing my pictures all over people’s mood boards for the big fashion shows with major labels—it’s awesome. I love being the OG and I love that I created Y2K fashion. I think it was the most fun era ever.
You had some great stuff, like the pink Murakami x Louis Vuitton cherry blossom bag and shoes, the pink Dior aviator shades, all those Matthew Williamson party dresses…and the bedazzled Uggs!
The bedazzled cell phone, too.
Full interview: elle.com