February 24, 2023 • 29 mins
This week, Rachel Zoe is joined by socialite, designer and entrepreneur, Nicky Hilton Rothschild. Nicky opens up about her childhood, which included her first internship at the age of 12, her sisterly bond with Paris Hilton, giving back to the community and the dream come true that is motherhood.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to Currently with Kuratore, where I share my
latest style obsessions, all of which you can access through
my shopping community cratur. My spring curation is finally here,
and throughout the season, I'm going to be telling you
more about everything inside of it, item by item. This week,
we're focusing on the Daytripper bag, which I co created
(00:21):
with the New York based brand Walter Baker. We wanted
a tote that was large enough to carry your overnight
essentials but small enough to wear a day to day
If you like. The black and white palette means it
will go with everything in your wardrobe, and the canvas
material is so lightweight but incredibly sturdy on its own.
The Daytripper is valued at one ninety eight, but you
(00:41):
can get this entire five product curation for just one
hundred dollars when you start your membership with my code
Rachel twenty five. These boxes are in limited supplies, so
head to curetour dot com that cure ature dot com
to leam this offer right now. Hi everyone, I'm Rachel
(01:11):
Zoe and you're listening to Climbing in Heels. This show
is all about celebrating the most extraordinary superwomen who will
be sharing their incredible journeys to the top, all while
staying glamorous. Today with me we have my friend, fashion
designer and entrepreneur Nikki Hilton Rothchild. On this episode, Nikki
(01:31):
talks about her childhood, which included her first internship at
the age of twelve, yes twelve, her incredible sister le
bond with Paris Hilton, giving back to the community, and
the dream come true that is motherhood. I'm so happy
to have you on so I started climbing in heels
(01:53):
because just like you, I have so many women in
my life who are just doing amazing things, have had
the most extraordinary careers and done a million things, and
our moms and part of families have had made your
education or next to no education, have had just such
(02:13):
different paths to get where they are. But the point
of it is, and you're such a good example of it,
is that you've gotten to become who you are in
a very genuine way, working really really hard while still
embracing being a woman and loving that part of it
(02:35):
and always being elegant, and like climbing in heels is
really like you can get to where you want to
be and still be a woman, you know, if that
makes sense, and embrace what it is to be a woman.
But everybody's path is different, and I think that the
goal for me is to share with people sort of
(02:56):
a little bit of who you are, how you got here,
and like sort of what drives you, and like what
would have been some of your greatest sort of challenges
along the way, if any, because I've had the good
fortune of knowing you for what feels like your whole life,
but probably just the ufford of the second of the
(03:16):
second half. I literally met you and Paris in two
thousand and one or two, and you were so young
and always so beautiful. But I remember very clearly being
like I actually thought you were her older sister. What
I realized over time was that it was like you
didn't say a lot, and then when you did, it
(03:38):
was either absolutely hilarious or it was like just straight shooting.
It was like you were seeing exactly what everyone was thinking,
but no one wanted to say. I always like to
just go back a little bit to the beginning, because
I like to know who were you like as a kid,
because you obviously grew up in this beautiful family in
a beautiful place, right, I was born in New York
(04:01):
and we moved to LA. I feel like I must
have been two or three. Okay, So so I consider
myself a New Yorker. You are born a New Yorker,
although I was by coastal back and forth for a bit,
like New York is my roots. Yeah, you seem New
Yorker to me. I'm very New York right, yeah, yeah,
(04:24):
everything about you feels New York to me, and and
and but but not your sister. You seem very New
York to me. Like I feel like when you got
married and moved back to New York, that to me
felt like, okay, yeah, that's where she's supposed to be. Actually,
So when you were a kid, like, were you this
like dreamy kid? Were you like the little girl with
the pink bows in her hair like your mom's pictures
(04:45):
that she posts, and were you just like I want
to play with barbies and I want to be this
when I grow up? Or were you like a tougher kid?
Were you opinionated? Like were you a dreamer? Were you
like like what was your what? Who was nicky? Little?
I was very very serious, but very girly, very feminine,
(05:06):
loved dressing up fashion, playing in my mom's closet, organizing
her jewelry in the shoes. I was so enamored by
it all. So I knew from a very very young
age that I wanted to do something in fashion, whether
it be work at a magazine, a spore, just anything.
(05:30):
I loved all of it. And did you love like
because you come from a family of workers, like your
parents are workers, like real workers and doers, And I think, like,
I know, for me, that was everything. Just kind of
watching that and living that. There was never any like
(05:52):
I'm gonna marry someone wealthy and live happily ever after
and go shopping. That was never like a thought in
my head, right. No, my parents instilled a very strong
work ethic in all of us. And I remember being
like twelve years old in the Hampton's and they're like,
what are your summer plans? Because you're not just going
(06:13):
to sit and hang out all day, You're going to
get a job. I was like, I am twelve, They're like,
you're going to get a job. I got an internship
at Hampton's magazine when you were twelve. Yes, that's amazing.
And I actually ended up doing it for a few
summers with Amanda Hurst, and we were interns. We did
(06:35):
the grittiest, most boring menial tasks, taking the traps out,
taking lunch orders, taking all of the party picture film
across the street to get developed, sending out the magazines
to the advertisers. But I know, I just learned so much.
Of course, I always say there are students and there
(06:55):
are workers, right, there's and listen sometimes there's right very often,
but I was definitely a worker more than I was
a student, ane hundred percent. I had my parents gave
me the choice not to go to college, There's a
good chance I won't tell my kids this now, but
like there's a good chance I would have opted out
and started working, because I felt like I learned more
(07:17):
in my first year working than I did in four
years of school. And so I'm curious to kind of
know at what point, So you went to school in
the city, or you went to school here city. I
went to high school in college in New York. I
went to the Convent of the Sacred Heart, all girls
(07:40):
school on the Upper East Side, not as Gladmors as
ross a girl, and then I went to the New School,
and then I started working immediately and what was like, So,
here's a thing. You A lot of people that we
know well and probably even more that that I don't know,
(08:01):
got tangled up in a lot of different kinds of trouble, right,
And I think the thing is that I'm always in
awe of is that you and Paris and Baron it
all really turned out really well, like really just not
lost in that. And I think my sister and I
the same, And we came from a town where a
(08:21):
lot of people got really lost and messed up. And
I think for me, I think just knowing you as
an adult, I would never see you lose like be
the type of person to lose your footing. And even
as I've known you for this long, you just always
seem to have it like together, Like you just always
seem like not out of control. Ever, I think that
(08:44):
I credit like a lot of my my everything is
to my family. We are so tight, we are so close,
we are so right or die and supportive of each
other and leaning on each other. And I'm so grateful
for that. And I think, I really, I know it
sounds cliche, but like, to me, family is everything a
(09:07):
thousand percent, And don't you realize that even more now
as a mother, Like don't you just realize like everything
I do is an example for them. I think one
thing I definitely want to talk about is like, obviously
you have a very visible family, right, and I've been
lucky enough to know all of you for so long
(09:28):
that to me or like one of the realist families
I've ever known, especially in this town and in this industry.
You've touched fashion in so many ways. You've touched different
facets of the industry, footwear, clothing, You've done shows, you're
doing jewelry, like, you've written books, Like there's so many
pieces of this puzzle. I want to know what's your favorite,
(09:52):
and be I want to talk about some of your challenges, right,
like what I guess keeps you awake at night and
like what wakes you up in the morning, Like what
is it that? Like? Have you had haters? Have you
had critics? Have you had trolls? Have you had any
Because it's funny, you don't seem like the person who
would ever let that ship bother you. But I think
(10:14):
the question is like you, I'm sure you've had some
mean girl show Like I'm sure you've had stuff. Oh, Yeah,
it's so funny you say that, because yesterday after the
Chorse Show, we went to this Michael had a lunch. Yeah,
I was staying with all these women and lots of
mothers of and we were talking just how great it is,
(10:38):
how much kinder the world has become, even just the meeting,
because growing up in the media and the two thousands,
they were just down right cruel at times, cruel and
sadistic and me and they use these girls that the
(11:03):
Parises and the Brittany's is just punchlines every single day,
and that ship would not fly today. But I think
it really impacts girls. It has impacted girls in a
bigger way over the years. And I think it's interesting.
I think that's on the one hand, you're like, well,
wait a minute, we have the Internet, it should be
(11:24):
ten x worse. But I think then it was tabloids, right,
And I think and those shows, I don't even think
you can have like a fashion police now cutting down
what people are wearing, right, And so I think there's
It's funny because I was experiencing something the other day,
just randomly, this woman who was just speaking so terribly
(11:47):
to me and my team, and it was so ridiculous,
and I was sort of like, not even like in
our business, like it was just that. And I literally
turn around and I go, I cannot believe in this
day and age that you're actually speaking like this, Like
I actually yeah, because you actually can't get away with
that anymore. And I think it's a really good point
what you're saying, because I actually think that when we
(12:10):
grew up, and I think when like twenty years ago,
fifteen years ago, at the height of it, you could
say anything, you could do anything. There was no there
was no ramifications for that. And I think now you
do that, you say someone's hair is the wrong you
give it the wrong title. You I mean, you're canceled, right,
And for that, I am grateful and happy that my
(12:33):
girls and my boy will grow up in a somewhat
kind of world when we still got a long long
way to go, but we are making strides and so
what Okay, So I think, just for our listeners, I
think it's important to talk about So Nikki is younger
than Paris by a few years, and again I think I,
(12:58):
along with many people, I've always felt like Nikki was
the older sister, and I think now Paris is living
her dream and her fairy to life, and I could
not be happier, and I can not love somebody more,
by the way, just the most magical person. It's important
to talk about sisters, right because I have a sister,
and I think you guys have such a beautiful relationship.
(13:19):
And I think the thing is what I have seen
over the years that's beautiful is that you talk to
her and she talks to you exactly like you should.
You're very straight, Pierre, No, we are. We speak like
ten times a day. We are ech other's biggest cheerleaders.
(13:39):
I see some siblings who don't get on. That always
makes me so sad, because too for me, like sisters,
it's such an unbreakable bond. I agree. And my sister's
funny because everyone's always like, like my closest girlfriends, they're like,
you don't ask us for anything. I'm like because of
my sister, Like and I had Roger, and I have
(14:02):
Roger who's been with me thirty one years. So it's
like when you have those two relationships that are so strong,
I don't think you're as high maintenance as a friend.
I think I think that's why kind of only children
a lot of times that they're friends, right, their friends
become their siblings, right. So, but you're not that demanding
as of a friend because you have your sister for
(14:23):
all the hardcore stuff hundred and your mom. But yeah,
so I think, But like I think you guys are
in It's weird you're both in the quote unquote industry,
but differently, right, Like I don't feel like you want
to do anything she does, and I feel like she
doesn't want to do anything you do. And I think
that's also why it works so beautifully. Yes, we totally
(14:45):
had different ambitions and goals our whole life. And I
used to get asked that all the time. Do you
guys get jealous of each other? No, you don't have
the same taste in clothing em boys in career paths
like we are night and day, you really do cheer
(15:05):
for each other. I also think your speech at the
wedding was one of the greatest speeches I've ever heard,
and I won't I won't say it for people to
hear because it was private, But one of the highlights
for me was like, who asked their family to go
on their honey Actually, no, I don't know the whole
(15:29):
family to the bachelorette party. I was like, you were
so generous and kind. I would not have Mom near
my bachelorette part. She's just so easy going like that.
Of course I am, I will admit it. I am
much more uptight. I'm like you just what I know.
(15:51):
I know, And that's why I think that I think
she's the most misunderstood person. I know, I think less
so now, but I think, like, I think she has
just always been the sweetest, most supportive friend and just
the sweetest kindest person has She's just always been that way,
with a heart like bigger than she actually knows what
to do with sometimes. But I think I think now
(16:13):
kind of watching you in this role of like ENTREPRENEURM mom,
I can't believe you have three kids happily married. It's
just so nice to see and I feel like this
is kind of like how your life was supposed to be.
But I think the best thing about you that I've
always noticed is that you've never once not stayed true
(16:34):
to exactly who you are, right Like, I just feel
like you've never like tried to appeal to other people.
You're just always like this is my opinion, I'm sticking
to it. I don't give to show what other people say.
This is my thought right, And that's a really hard
thing to do, to not be like swayed by like
the people around you. And I think my mom taught
(16:54):
me that at a young age. She was like, who
cares what everyone thinks? They're not paying your bills? That
was her favorite line, what do you care? You're right? Right?
I could I could see her saying that. I could.
I could absolutely see her lots of atheisms throughout this podcast,
as there should be. What I do want to talk
(17:16):
about now is sort of like, so, what's kind of
naxt Like what's been your favorite part of your career
so far? Like just sort of where you were like,
this is my calling. I need to do more of this.
This is what I'm meant to do, and I want
to I want to figure out how to do this more,
like which facet of the industry, like what what feels
(17:36):
most natural to you? I'm I love the fashion stuff
and the designing. I actually just shot my French Soul
spring campaign. Amazing. I feel like this is now a
few this is a few years in now, right, Yes,
you probably this is not your language flats. But but
they're so cute, very much a ballerina flat girls. I
(17:59):
think they are the perfect combination of comfort and elegance.
I just fell in love with them. Audrey Hepburn and
her turtle and her little cigarette pants. But that's your
whole thing. You have this like Caroline Bissette shake ness.
That's the whole like nicky thing. So that keeps me busy.
But I would say the most rewarding work I do
(18:22):
is with the Hilton Foundation. I want to talk about
that because I think that's a lesson I'm doing. That
kind of work I think is probably the most important
thing that any of us do. So I do want
to hear about that, because I know that you've been
a part of all kinds of different foundations, but I
want to hear more about the Hilton Foundation. So when
(18:44):
my great grandfather died, he left his fortune to the
Hilton Foundation, right, and since it's inception in nineteen forty four,
they have donated nearly three billion dollars to nonprofit or
organization god. So the mission statement is alleviating human suffering,
(19:05):
and we do all sorts of work with early child development,
foster youth, homelessness, in Los Angeles. I love introducing my
girls to this type of work because it was introduced
to me so young, and it's just sort of ben
in my DNA. And then they love it too. Like
(19:30):
I took them two weekends ago to the synagogue my
husband belongs to Uptown and we made meals for the
community fridge. So we sat there with all these families
and it was really great, I mean, the kids involved.
And we made sandwiches, fruit cups, sallads, water bottles, and
(19:51):
we drove the food up to the community fridge in Harlem.
And I don't know, if you get familiar with this
community fridge cons no amazing, so they're all over the city.
So they had one where in Harlem and it's on
the street, like a huge fridge, and people just take
(20:13):
it at they come. So we unloaded all of the
stuff into the fridge and we were sort of just
like sitting there and watching and all these people just
started coming and grabbing a sandwich or a bottle of water.
To be able to introduce my kids to the I
started the boys when they were about four and five
(20:33):
and six and started to really kind of build that
foundation of empathy and everything else. And them really understanding
that the life they live is not a given and
not expected, and it's not a given in this world,
and there's many that don't. And I think there's nothing
more important that we actually can do for our kids
than to expose real world, real life to them as
(20:56):
young as possible. Because always lead with that. Parents would
bring us down to the Union Rescue Mission downtown LA
almost every Christmas and Thanksgiving to feed the homeless, and
it just it makes you feel so good to be
able to help people, and my kids love doing it.
(21:20):
It's I think it's so important to keep them in it,
and it also it also becomes that thing that they
look forward to and it's a thing that they'll be
driven by ultimately in their lives, which is the most
important thing that we do as parents. I think, Yes,
I got really creative with my giving back. I recently
joined the board of God's Love We Deliver, and I
(21:42):
came on to the team and I said, I really
want to engage my kids and the youth, create volunteer opportunities,
and teach these kids the importance of giving back. So
we did our inaugural kickoff at the Museum of Ice Cream,
ah my kids. Just like everything is about God's love,
(22:04):
we deliver. See. But that's what it's great and I
think it's I think it's such a great thing that
we do that that you do, and so I guess
to the idea is that you can now work with
multiple organizations right through that suit. So that's that's amazing.
And by the way, kids, it was all about animals.
(22:25):
I'm on the board of Animal Haven, which is a
no kill shelter. Yes, work and everything's about animals. But
then I had kids. Just something like ignited in me.
It was like a moral obligation. Wha it is, get
involved and well, I should do great work with baby
(22:45):
to baby. And I think you know what it is.
I think when you have kids and you're feeding them
and you're putting a diaper on them, or you're just
getting them a new sweater, you don't that's such a
normal thing that when all this and you go, wait,
they don't have shoes that fit, they don't have socks,
they don't have a backpack for school, so they use
(23:06):
a garbage bag that they keep all their stuff in.
And when you and they eat their meals at their
public school that they eat at and when school shuts down,
they don't get food. So it's like when you start
to go down that And I think as a parent,
it's like, yes, you don't have to be a parent
to think about that, but I think once you are,
it's like ten times more intensive that you feel, as
(23:27):
you said this, like obligation as a human being to
try and fix it and try and help however you can.
I couldn't agree more. So, tell me what is next,
and like what your dream is? Obviously you're living it,
But do you ever think like, Okay, I still have
this left to do, or I still like I'd still
like to do acts, or do you just like say,
(23:50):
I'm living in my moment and taking every day as
it comes. Well, having three kids now it's a hundred
full time jobs. No, but I got into the kids game. Yeah,
of course. I just got a swimsuit collab with this
cute brand that I found that my mom found on Instagram.
(24:12):
It's called Sunhouse Children's Okay, and it's these two moms
from the South and they're the most adorable line. And
I did this cute collab of little girls and little
boy swimsuits and working on two fun fashion projects, right
(24:33):
now good. I'm very excited to see what you do
because I just think you have a lot that you
are doing and a lot that you'll keep doing. But
I also think you're going to keep doing it like
the Nikki way. Like I also think that you're sort
of calm, cool. I think always brings a lot to anything,
and I think that's I think that's why you are
where you are and who you are. But I do
(24:54):
love you madly. Go enjoy your kids. By Henny, it's
that time in the show and I answered to listener questions,
So let's see what we have today. Okay, what was
your favorite show at New York Fashion Week? And is
it true the show's only last around ten minutes, so
it's funny. I mean, I had a few favorites. I
(25:16):
think Rodarte was extraordinary. It was literally mythical. It was
like it was like theater. I mean, it was just
really it was really unbelievable. It reminded me of going
to Quture. It was just that intricate and that artful,
and it felt like a bit Maleficent movie and it
felt a bit fairytale goth at the same time. But
(25:37):
it was just extraordinary. Probably grong I thought was incredible.
I loved the like metallic fringe two piece pants suit
in the gown. And of course Carolina Herrera Wes Gordon
just did the most beautiful, elegant collection, super feminine and
just very like New York Lady, but in a very modern,
(25:58):
youthful and yes, it is very funny. The irony of
fashion shows is that in the old days, you would
wait like forty five minutes for a show to start,
and then it was like they'd call it for ten am,
it wouldn't start to almost eleven and then it was
over in like eight minutes, and you're just like, wait,
what just happened? But now they're definitely more timely. But
(26:20):
typically yeah, I mean a show is ten to fifteen
minutes long. Just think of it as a couple of
songs and they walk each look. It's anywhere from forty
to I guess eighty looks, but eighty really is more
In Europe, like with Armani and Dulchinkabana, Gucci, they show
(26:41):
more like eighty looks. But yes, it is true, they're
only around ten minutes give or take. Okay, what is
your go to full coverage concealer? That's a great question
because I'm actually constantly on the quest for the perfect concealer.
I'm sort of playing with a few right now. I
have to say that Cloud to Poe, while very pricey,
(27:02):
happens to be excellent for full coverage. I would say
there is a new one that I'm playing with, the shade,
but I really do like it. The Charlotte Tilbury New Beautiful.
I want to say, it's called Beautiful Skin concealer, but
you have to find your shade. The problem with concealer
is you have to get the right shade that matches
your foundation. So I think that's a challenge, and once
(27:24):
you do that, finding the perfect concealer is much easier.
There's also a great Kevin o'kwon concealer, and then my
tried and true too shaklat ysl Concealer is also still wonderful,
but it's not as thick. It's a bit lighter. Okay.
I hope that helps. Don't forget to submit your questions
for next week's episode. All you have to do is
(27:47):
damas your questions to at clymian Heel's pod on Instagram
and I might just answer your question. I want to
thank Nikki for coming on the podcast and opening up
about her life and her incredible foundation, the Hilton Foundation,
(28:07):
which I'm so impressed by because there's nothing I love
more than in people who can do and what an
impact the Hilton Foundation is having and will continue to
have for a very long time on so many people.
I think something we haven't really talked about that much
on the podcast, if at all, is commitment to philanthropic endeavors.
(28:31):
And I think that as parents, one of the biggest
things that we can do for our children is teach
them as young as possible about empathy and giving back
and just giving out your hand where you can, and
that it should be something that you look forward to
and something that drives you. And I think that Nikki
(28:54):
is talking about how important that is to her and
to her family. I think is such a great takeaway, honestly,
And she really does do so much. She works really hard,
She's so professional, and I meant it when I said, like,
I've known her for twenty years and I swear she's
just always together, always straight shooter, always kind, just like
(29:15):
her mom and just like her sister, honestly, and there's
such a nice family, and so I think it's really
nice to kind of share a little bit more of
who Nikki Rothschild is. I still want to say Nikki Hilton.
I want to thank our listeners as well. If you
want more Climbing Inhales content, follow me on at Rachel's
Zoe and at Climbing Inhales Pod on Instagram for more
(29:37):
updates on upcoming guests, episodes, and all things Cuatore and
I will see you next week.
Welcome back to Currently with Kuratore, where I share my
latest style obsessions, all of which you can access through
my shopping community cratur. My spring curation is finally here,
and throughout the season, I'm going to be telling you
more about everything inside of it, item by item. This week,
we're focusing on the Daytripper bag, which I co created
(00:21):
with the New York based brand Walter Baker. We wanted
a tote that was large enough to carry your overnight
essentials but small enough to wear a day to day
If you like. The black and white palette means it
will go with everything in your wardrobe, and the canvas
material is so lightweight but incredibly sturdy on its own.
The Daytripper is valued at one ninety eight, but you
(00:41):
can get this entire five product curation for just one
hundred dollars when you start your membership with my code
Rachel twenty five. These boxes are in limited supplies, so
head to curetour dot com that cure ature dot com
to leam this offer right now. Hi everyone, I'm Rachel
(01:11):
Zoe and you're listening to Climbing in Heels. This show
is all about celebrating the most extraordinary superwomen who will
be sharing their incredible journeys to the top, all while
staying glamorous. Today with me we have my friend, fashion
designer and entrepreneur Nikki Hilton Rothchild. On this episode, Nikki
(01:31):
talks about her childhood, which included her first internship at
the age of twelve, yes twelve, her incredible sister le
bond with Paris Hilton, giving back to the community, and
the dream come true that is motherhood. I'm so happy
to have you on so I started climbing in heels
(01:53):
because just like you, I have so many women in
my life who are just doing amazing things, have had
the most extraordinary careers and done a million things, and
our moms and part of families have had made your
education or next to no education, have had just such
(02:13):
different paths to get where they are. But the point
of it is, and you're such a good example of it,
is that you've gotten to become who you are in
a very genuine way, working really really hard while still
embracing being a woman and loving that part of it
(02:35):
and always being elegant, and like climbing in heels is
really like you can get to where you want to
be and still be a woman, you know, if that
makes sense, and embrace what it is to be a woman.
But everybody's path is different, and I think that the
goal for me is to share with people sort of
(02:56):
a little bit of who you are, how you got here,
and like sort of what drives you, and like what
would have been some of your greatest sort of challenges
along the way, if any, because I've had the good
fortune of knowing you for what feels like your whole life,
but probably just the ufford of the second of the
(03:16):
second half. I literally met you and Paris in two
thousand and one or two, and you were so young
and always so beautiful. But I remember very clearly being
like I actually thought you were her older sister. What
I realized over time was that it was like you
didn't say a lot, and then when you did, it
(03:38):
was either absolutely hilarious or it was like just straight shooting.
It was like you were seeing exactly what everyone was thinking,
but no one wanted to say. I always like to
just go back a little bit to the beginning, because
I like to know who were you like as a kid,
because you obviously grew up in this beautiful family in
a beautiful place, right, I was born in New York
(04:01):
and we moved to LA. I feel like I must
have been two or three. Okay, So so I consider
myself a New Yorker. You are born a New Yorker,
although I was by coastal back and forth for a bit,
like New York is my roots. Yeah, you seem New
Yorker to me. I'm very New York right, yeah, yeah,
(04:24):
everything about you feels New York to me, and and
and but but not your sister. You seem very New
York to me. Like I feel like when you got
married and moved back to New York, that to me
felt like, okay, yeah, that's where she's supposed to be. Actually,
So when you were a kid, like, were you this
like dreamy kid? Were you like the little girl with
the pink bows in her hair like your mom's pictures
(04:45):
that she posts, and were you just like I want
to play with barbies and I want to be this
when I grow up? Or were you like a tougher kid?
Were you opinionated? Like were you a dreamer? Were you
like like what was your what? Who was nicky? Little?
I was very very serious, but very girly, very feminine,
(05:06):
loved dressing up fashion, playing in my mom's closet, organizing
her jewelry in the shoes. I was so enamored by
it all. So I knew from a very very young
age that I wanted to do something in fashion, whether
it be work at a magazine, a spore, just anything.
(05:30):
I loved all of it. And did you love like
because you come from a family of workers, like your
parents are workers, like real workers and doers, And I think, like,
I know, for me, that was everything. Just kind of
watching that and living that. There was never any like
(05:52):
I'm gonna marry someone wealthy and live happily ever after
and go shopping. That was never like a thought in
my head, right. No, my parents instilled a very strong
work ethic in all of us. And I remember being
like twelve years old in the Hampton's and they're like,
what are your summer plans? Because you're not just going
(06:13):
to sit and hang out all day, You're going to
get a job. I was like, I am twelve, They're like,
you're going to get a job. I got an internship
at Hampton's magazine when you were twelve. Yes, that's amazing.
And I actually ended up doing it for a few
summers with Amanda Hurst, and we were interns. We did
(06:35):
the grittiest, most boring menial tasks, taking the traps out,
taking lunch orders, taking all of the party picture film
across the street to get developed, sending out the magazines
to the advertisers. But I know, I just learned so much.
Of course, I always say there are students and there
(06:55):
are workers, right, there's and listen sometimes there's right very often,
but I was definitely a worker more than I was
a student, ane hundred percent. I had my parents gave
me the choice not to go to college, There's a
good chance I won't tell my kids this now, but
like there's a good chance I would have opted out
and started working, because I felt like I learned more
(07:17):
in my first year working than I did in four
years of school. And so I'm curious to kind of
know at what point, So you went to school in
the city, or you went to school here city. I
went to high school in college in New York. I
went to the Convent of the Sacred Heart, all girls
(07:40):
school on the Upper East Side, not as Gladmors as
ross a girl, and then I went to the New School,
and then I started working immediately and what was like, So,
here's a thing. You A lot of people that we
know well and probably even more that that I don't know,
(08:01):
got tangled up in a lot of different kinds of trouble, right,
And I think the thing is that I'm always in
awe of is that you and Paris and Baron it
all really turned out really well, like really just not
lost in that. And I think my sister and I
the same, And we came from a town where a
(08:21):
lot of people got really lost and messed up. And
I think for me, I think just knowing you as
an adult, I would never see you lose like be
the type of person to lose your footing. And even
as I've known you for this long, you just always
seem to have it like together, Like you just always
seem like not out of control. Ever, I think that
(08:44):
I credit like a lot of my my everything is
to my family. We are so tight, we are so close,
we are so right or die and supportive of each
other and leaning on each other. And I'm so grateful
for that. And I think, I really, I know it
sounds cliche, but like, to me, family is everything a
(09:07):
thousand percent, And don't you realize that even more now
as a mother, Like don't you just realize like everything
I do is an example for them. I think one
thing I definitely want to talk about is like, obviously
you have a very visible family, right, and I've been
lucky enough to know all of you for so long
(09:28):
that to me or like one of the realist families
I've ever known, especially in this town and in this industry.
You've touched fashion in so many ways. You've touched different
facets of the industry, footwear, clothing, You've done shows, you're
doing jewelry, like, you've written books, Like there's so many
pieces of this puzzle. I want to know what's your favorite,
(09:52):
and be I want to talk about some of your challenges, right,
like what I guess keeps you awake at night and
like what wakes you up in the morning, Like what
is it that? Like? Have you had haters? Have you
had critics? Have you had trolls? Have you had any
Because it's funny, you don't seem like the person who
would ever let that ship bother you. But I think
(10:14):
the question is like you, I'm sure you've had some
mean girl show Like I'm sure you've had stuff. Oh, Yeah,
it's so funny you say that, because yesterday after the
Chorse Show, we went to this Michael had a lunch. Yeah,
I was staying with all these women and lots of
mothers of and we were talking just how great it is,
(10:38):
how much kinder the world has become, even just the meeting,
because growing up in the media and the two thousands,
they were just down right cruel at times, cruel and
sadistic and me and they use these girls that the
(11:03):
Parises and the Brittany's is just punchlines every single day,
and that ship would not fly today. But I think
it really impacts girls. It has impacted girls in a
bigger way over the years. And I think it's interesting.
I think that's on the one hand, you're like, well,
wait a minute, we have the Internet, it should be
(11:24):
ten x worse. But I think then it was tabloids, right,
And I think and those shows, I don't even think
you can have like a fashion police now cutting down
what people are wearing, right, And so I think there's
It's funny because I was experiencing something the other day,
just randomly, this woman who was just speaking so terribly
(11:47):
to me and my team, and it was so ridiculous,
and I was sort of like, not even like in
our business, like it was just that. And I literally
turn around and I go, I cannot believe in this
day and age that you're actually speaking like this, Like
I actually yeah, because you actually can't get away with
that anymore. And I think it's a really good point
what you're saying, because I actually think that when we
(12:10):
grew up, and I think when like twenty years ago,
fifteen years ago, at the height of it, you could
say anything, you could do anything. There was no there
was no ramifications for that. And I think now you
do that, you say someone's hair is the wrong you
give it the wrong title. You I mean, you're canceled, right,
And for that, I am grateful and happy that my
(12:33):
girls and my boy will grow up in a somewhat
kind of world when we still got a long long
way to go, but we are making strides and so
what Okay, So I think, just for our listeners, I
think it's important to talk about So Nikki is younger
than Paris by a few years, and again I think I,
(12:58):
along with many people, I've always felt like Nikki was
the older sister, and I think now Paris is living
her dream and her fairy to life, and I could
not be happier, and I can not love somebody more,
by the way, just the most magical person. It's important
to talk about sisters, right because I have a sister,
and I think you guys have such a beautiful relationship.
(13:19):
And I think the thing is what I have seen
over the years that's beautiful is that you talk to
her and she talks to you exactly like you should.
You're very straight, Pierre, No, we are. We speak like
ten times a day. We are ech other's biggest cheerleaders.
(13:39):
I see some siblings who don't get on. That always
makes me so sad, because too for me, like sisters,
it's such an unbreakable bond. I agree. And my sister's
funny because everyone's always like, like my closest girlfriends, they're like,
you don't ask us for anything. I'm like because of
my sister, Like and I had Roger, and I have
(14:02):
Roger who's been with me thirty one years. So it's
like when you have those two relationships that are so strong,
I don't think you're as high maintenance as a friend.
I think I think that's why kind of only children
a lot of times that they're friends, right, their friends
become their siblings, right. So, but you're not that demanding
as of a friend because you have your sister for
(14:23):
all the hardcore stuff hundred and your mom. But yeah,
so I think, But like I think you guys are
in It's weird you're both in the quote unquote industry,
but differently, right, Like I don't feel like you want
to do anything she does, and I feel like she
doesn't want to do anything you do. And I think
that's also why it works so beautifully. Yes, we totally
(14:45):
had different ambitions and goals our whole life. And I
used to get asked that all the time. Do you
guys get jealous of each other? No, you don't have
the same taste in clothing em boys in career paths
like we are night and day, you really do cheer
(15:05):
for each other. I also think your speech at the
wedding was one of the greatest speeches I've ever heard,
and I won't I won't say it for people to
hear because it was private, But one of the highlights
for me was like, who asked their family to go
on their honey Actually, no, I don't know the whole
(15:29):
family to the bachelorette party. I was like, you were
so generous and kind. I would not have Mom near
my bachelorette part. She's just so easy going like that.
Of course I am, I will admit it. I am
much more uptight. I'm like you just what I know.
(15:51):
I know, And that's why I think that I think
she's the most misunderstood person. I know, I think less
so now, but I think, like, I think she has
just always been the sweetest, most supportive friend and just
the sweetest kindest person has She's just always been that way,
with a heart like bigger than she actually knows what
to do with sometimes. But I think I think now
(16:13):
kind of watching you in this role of like ENTREPRENEURM mom,
I can't believe you have three kids happily married. It's
just so nice to see and I feel like this
is kind of like how your life was supposed to be.
But I think the best thing about you that I've
always noticed is that you've never once not stayed true
(16:34):
to exactly who you are, right Like, I just feel
like you've never like tried to appeal to other people.
You're just always like this is my opinion, I'm sticking
to it. I don't give to show what other people say.
This is my thought right, And that's a really hard
thing to do, to not be like swayed by like
the people around you. And I think my mom taught
(16:54):
me that at a young age. She was like, who
cares what everyone thinks? They're not paying your bills? That
was her favorite line, what do you care? You're right? Right?
I could I could see her saying that. I could.
I could absolutely see her lots of atheisms throughout this podcast,
as there should be. What I do want to talk
(17:16):
about now is sort of like, so, what's kind of
naxt Like what's been your favorite part of your career
so far? Like just sort of where you were like,
this is my calling. I need to do more of this.
This is what I'm meant to do, and I want
to I want to figure out how to do this more,
like which facet of the industry, like what what feels
(17:36):
most natural to you? I'm I love the fashion stuff
and the designing. I actually just shot my French Soul
spring campaign. Amazing. I feel like this is now a
few this is a few years in now, right, Yes,
you probably this is not your language flats. But but
they're so cute, very much a ballerina flat girls. I
(17:59):
think they are the perfect combination of comfort and elegance.
I just fell in love with them. Audrey Hepburn and
her turtle and her little cigarette pants. But that's your
whole thing. You have this like Caroline Bissette shake ness.
That's the whole like nicky thing. So that keeps me busy.
But I would say the most rewarding work I do
(18:22):
is with the Hilton Foundation. I want to talk about
that because I think that's a lesson I'm doing. That
kind of work I think is probably the most important
thing that any of us do. So I do want
to hear about that, because I know that you've been
a part of all kinds of different foundations, but I
want to hear more about the Hilton Foundation. So when
(18:44):
my great grandfather died, he left his fortune to the
Hilton Foundation, right, and since it's inception in nineteen forty four,
they have donated nearly three billion dollars to nonprofit or
organization god. So the mission statement is alleviating human suffering,
(19:05):
and we do all sorts of work with early child development,
foster youth, homelessness, in Los Angeles. I love introducing my
girls to this type of work because it was introduced
to me so young, and it's just sort of ben
in my DNA. And then they love it too. Like
(19:30):
I took them two weekends ago to the synagogue my
husband belongs to Uptown and we made meals for the
community fridge. So we sat there with all these families
and it was really great, I mean, the kids involved.
And we made sandwiches, fruit cups, sallads, water bottles, and
(19:51):
we drove the food up to the community fridge in Harlem.
And I don't know, if you get familiar with this
community fridge cons no amazing, so they're all over the city.
So they had one where in Harlem and it's on
the street, like a huge fridge, and people just take
(20:13):
it at they come. So we unloaded all of the
stuff into the fridge and we were sort of just
like sitting there and watching and all these people just
started coming and grabbing a sandwich or a bottle of water.
To be able to introduce my kids to the I
started the boys when they were about four and five
(20:33):
and six and started to really kind of build that
foundation of empathy and everything else. And them really understanding
that the life they live is not a given and
not expected, and it's not a given in this world,
and there's many that don't. And I think there's nothing
more important that we actually can do for our kids
than to expose real world, real life to them as
(20:56):
young as possible. Because always lead with that. Parents would
bring us down to the Union Rescue Mission downtown LA
almost every Christmas and Thanksgiving to feed the homeless, and
it just it makes you feel so good to be
able to help people, and my kids love doing it.
(21:20):
It's I think it's so important to keep them in it,
and it also it also becomes that thing that they
look forward to and it's a thing that they'll be
driven by ultimately in their lives, which is the most
important thing that we do as parents. I think, Yes,
I got really creative with my giving back. I recently
joined the board of God's Love We Deliver, and I
(21:42):
came on to the team and I said, I really
want to engage my kids and the youth, create volunteer opportunities,
and teach these kids the importance of giving back. So
we did our inaugural kickoff at the Museum of Ice Cream,
ah my kids. Just like everything is about God's love,
(22:04):
we deliver. See. But that's what it's great and I
think it's I think it's such a great thing that
we do that that you do, and so I guess
to the idea is that you can now work with
multiple organizations right through that suit. So that's that's amazing.
And by the way, kids, it was all about animals.
(22:25):
I'm on the board of Animal Haven, which is a
no kill shelter. Yes, work and everything's about animals. But
then I had kids. Just something like ignited in me.
It was like a moral obligation. Wha it is, get
involved and well, I should do great work with baby
(22:45):
to baby. And I think you know what it is.
I think when you have kids and you're feeding them
and you're putting a diaper on them, or you're just
getting them a new sweater, you don't that's such a
normal thing that when all this and you go, wait,
they don't have shoes that fit, they don't have socks,
they don't have a backpack for school, so they use
(23:06):
a garbage bag that they keep all their stuff in.
And when you and they eat their meals at their
public school that they eat at and when school shuts down,
they don't get food. So it's like when you start
to go down that And I think as a parent,
it's like, yes, you don't have to be a parent
to think about that, but I think once you are,
it's like ten times more intensive that you feel, as
(23:27):
you said this, like obligation as a human being to
try and fix it and try and help however you can.
I couldn't agree more. So, tell me what is next,
and like what your dream is? Obviously you're living it,
But do you ever think like, Okay, I still have
this left to do, or I still like I'd still
like to do acts, or do you just like say,
(23:50):
I'm living in my moment and taking every day as
it comes. Well, having three kids now it's a hundred
full time jobs. No, but I got into the kids game. Yeah,
of course. I just got a swimsuit collab with this
cute brand that I found that my mom found on Instagram.
(24:12):
It's called Sunhouse Children's Okay, and it's these two moms
from the South and they're the most adorable line. And
I did this cute collab of little girls and little
boy swimsuits and working on two fun fashion projects, right
(24:33):
now good. I'm very excited to see what you do
because I just think you have a lot that you
are doing and a lot that you'll keep doing. But
I also think you're going to keep doing it like
the Nikki way. Like I also think that you're sort
of calm, cool. I think always brings a lot to anything,
and I think that's I think that's why you are
where you are and who you are. But I do
(24:54):
love you madly. Go enjoy your kids. By Henny, it's
that time in the show and I answered to listener questions,
So let's see what we have today. Okay, what was
your favorite show at New York Fashion Week? And is
it true the show's only last around ten minutes, so
it's funny. I mean, I had a few favorites. I
(25:16):
think Rodarte was extraordinary. It was literally mythical. It was
like it was like theater. I mean, it was just
really it was really unbelievable. It reminded me of going
to Quture. It was just that intricate and that artful,
and it felt like a bit Maleficent movie and it
felt a bit fairytale goth at the same time. But
(25:37):
it was just extraordinary. Probably grong I thought was incredible.
I loved the like metallic fringe two piece pants suit
in the gown. And of course Carolina Herrera Wes Gordon
just did the most beautiful, elegant collection, super feminine and
just very like New York Lady, but in a very modern,
(25:58):
youthful and yes, it is very funny. The irony of
fashion shows is that in the old days, you would
wait like forty five minutes for a show to start,
and then it was like they'd call it for ten am,
it wouldn't start to almost eleven and then it was
over in like eight minutes, and you're just like, wait,
what just happened? But now they're definitely more timely. But
(26:20):
typically yeah, I mean a show is ten to fifteen
minutes long. Just think of it as a couple of
songs and they walk each look. It's anywhere from forty
to I guess eighty looks, but eighty really is more
In Europe, like with Armani and Dulchinkabana, Gucci, they show
(26:41):
more like eighty looks. But yes, it is true, they're
only around ten minutes give or take. Okay, what is
your go to full coverage concealer? That's a great question
because I'm actually constantly on the quest for the perfect concealer.
I'm sort of playing with a few right now. I
have to say that Cloud to Poe, while very pricey,
(27:02):
happens to be excellent for full coverage. I would say
there is a new one that I'm playing with, the shade,
but I really do like it. The Charlotte Tilbury New Beautiful.
I want to say, it's called Beautiful Skin concealer, but
you have to find your shade. The problem with concealer
is you have to get the right shade that matches
your foundation. So I think that's a challenge, and once
(27:24):
you do that, finding the perfect concealer is much easier.
There's also a great Kevin o'kwon concealer, and then my
tried and true too shaklat ysl Concealer is also still wonderful,
but it's not as thick. It's a bit lighter. Okay.
I hope that helps. Don't forget to submit your questions
for next week's episode. All you have to do is
(27:47):
damas your questions to at clymian Heel's pod on Instagram
and I might just answer your question. I want to
thank Nikki for coming on the podcast and opening up
about her life and her incredible foundation, the Hilton Foundation,
(28:07):
which I'm so impressed by because there's nothing I love
more than in people who can do and what an
impact the Hilton Foundation is having and will continue to
have for a very long time on so many people.
I think something we haven't really talked about that much
on the podcast, if at all, is commitment to philanthropic endeavors.
(28:31):
And I think that as parents, one of the biggest
things that we can do for our children is teach
them as young as possible about empathy and giving back
and just giving out your hand where you can, and
that it should be something that you look forward to
and something that drives you. And I think that Nikki
(28:54):
is talking about how important that is to her and
to her family. I think is such a great takeaway, honestly,
And she really does do so much. She works really hard,
She's so professional, and I meant it when I said, like,
I've known her for twenty years and I swear she's
just always together, always straight shooter, always kind, just like
(29:15):
her mom and just like her sister, honestly, and there's
such a nice family, and so I think it's really
nice to kind of share a little bit more of
who Nikki Rothschild is. I still want to say Nikki Hilton.
I want to thank our listeners as well. If you
want more Climbing Inhales content, follow me on at Rachel's
Zoe and at Climbing Inhales Pod on Instagram for more
(29:37):
updates on upcoming guests, episodes, and all things Cuatore and
I will see you next week.
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