Hilton at her 21st birthday party. Courtesy of David Benett.
“My mom was friends with Andy Warhol,” says Paris Hilton. “They used to go to Studio 54 all the time and have afterparties at our place at the Waldorf. Andy would come over. I would sit in his lap and draw, and he would always say to my mom, ‘This girl’s going to be such a star one day.’ ” Not even Warhol could have predicted, however, how much of an impact on the concept of fame the great-granddaughter of the hotel magnate Conrad Hilton would have. Building her brand on the notoriety she received from sneaking out to New York’s hottest nightclubs as a teen in the late ’90s, Hilton redefined celebrity for the new millennium, paving the way for countless influencers, so many Real Housewives, and the Kardashian-Jenner clan in the process.