ChinaShopMag: by Nicole Pajer and Dustin Downing 
Even the biggest of closets can’t hold all the clothing and accessories that are thrown a celebrity’s way. Plus, let’s be honest, when your life is in the public eye, wearing the same dress to more than one party won’t earn you points with the paparazzi. A celebrity’s wardrobe is continuously evolving and there are always things that need to be tossed, or in the case of Paris Hilton, sold to new owners in the name of charity.
Kathy Hilton, along with friend Tracy North, owns a consignment store in Los Angeles called Designer Archives. Upstairs is Paris Hilton’s Closet – a store full of clothing and accessories, which Paris personally selects from her home closet and brings into the store. These items are sold to the public – many of them worn once or twice by Paris herself in photo shoots or around town. One hundred percent of the proceeds from sales at Paris Hilton’s Closet go to charity.
“We’ve just always been really big into giving back and I just thought it was the perfect opportunity to give back to charity. Also I have so many things so it’s nice to be able to get rid of them in this way,” says Paris
Paris and Kathy team up and select a different charity each month to donate the store’s proceeds to. This month’s charity is the Union Rescue Mission, a downtown homeless shelter that Paris recently visited in person to drop off a check to. Previous charities, according to Paris, have included places like the Starlight Children's Foundation, Make-A-Wish, The National MS Society, and Breast Cancer Research.
Paris explains that she’s been doing charity work since she was a little girl but finds Paris Hilton’s Closet to be one of the more rewarding of her philanthropic endeavors as it’s nice to be able to give away her clothes for people to purchase and enjoy. “I have so many clothes and so many things. I do so many photo shoots and so many designers send me things that I don’t even have enough room in my house so its nice to be able to give it away and then have people donate for it.”
Paris Hilton’s Closet features an array of clothing, which encompasses a variety of designers at a wide range of price points. Shoppers will find anything from French Connection and Tommy Hilfiger to clothing by Nicky Hilton, items from Paris’s own line, and designer attire worn at parties and in prestigious photo shoots. The store is reminiscent of a large walk-in closet and decorated by artwork that Paris has acquired over the years, including a large screen print, which is autographed by many celebrities and was presented to Paris as a birthday gift. There are mirror-lined walls, racks of clothes, shoes, purses, framed photographs of the Hilton sisters, figurines from the Hilton home, and bottles of Paris perfume.
Designer Archives sells a variety of high-end threads and accessories – many of them vintage (vintage Chanel clip on earrings, Alexis Kirk silver belts, Escada shirts, vintage Pucci skirts, etc.) which are consigned from various clients. The furniture inside the store is a variety of exquisite antique pieces that were previously in Kathy’s house and are also for sale. Although Designer Archives is not a charitable endeavor, like Paris Hilton’s Closet, Kathy and Tracy do occasionally host special events in the store and donate a percentage of the profits to specific causes.
According to Kathy, Designer Archives/Paris Hiltons Closet is a family endeavor. “It’s fun and I love being able to really have a good time and to be able to do something nice. It’s all family. Tracy is our partner but she’s like family and my nieces work here and close friends and it’s kind of like the little hub.” During our visit, Kathy’s sister and Real Housewife of Beverly Hills, Kyle Richards popped into the store, almost on cue to illustrate Kathy’s point.
Tracey says the store opened in October and was originally planned as a pop up. “We said, let’s see how it goes and the response was great. We had a great response from customers. We started with a handful of consigners and Paris’s stuff and now we get dozens of consigners,” explains Tracey who says that Designer Archives literally gets new things in the store every single weekday. “Amazing things too! – Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, vintage things that I’ve never seen before! Name a designer and we have it in here pretty much.”
Kathy jokes that they were so quick to get into the new space that they haven’t even had time to fully decorate and arrange merchandise the way they’d like to. “We have plans to refurbish and renovate but we were so excited with the idea and we were like, ‘Let’s get in here.’ This space became available and it was right before Christmas.”
The store attracts a clientele of all ages says Tracey. “It’s everything. We get teenage girls here. We get tweens in here, women my age, older than us, women Paris’s age and everything in between.” Paris Hilton’s Closet is also popular with the loyal Paris fans. “Everyone loves it and people fly in from all over the world to see it,” Paris says.
Paris shared a heartfelt story about a young girl finding out about the store on Twitter and saving up her money to travel from New York to come in to buy a t-shirt. Being so touched by this, Tracy called Paris to have her speak to the girl on the phone. Paris immediately jumped in her car and drove over to spend a half an hour with her fan. “She was sweet. She got a bunch of stuff,” says Paris.
While snapping some photos of Tracy, Kathy, and Paris sitting on a tiny pink couch that was in her bedroom as a child, Paris showed off some of her favorite pieces inside the store including a beautiful sequin dress and a turquoise skirt with flowers. When asked if it was ever hard to part with items of clothing, she replied, “There are so many things that I love and I get new things all the time so once I’ve worn it, it’s nice to make someone else happy with it.”
