Kathy Hilton Jokes 'Fashionista' Daughter Nicky Would Guard Her Closet When She Was a Kid - lulu

Nicky and Kathy Hilton. Photo: 

Daniele Venturelli/WireImage

Nicky Hilton Rothschild has always been a fashion girlie — just ask her mom.

Kathy Hilton, 65, tells PEOPLE that her daughter was super protective of her closet, starting at a young age. Kathy says one of her fondest memories of a young Nicky was actually "guarding" her closet!

"She was always a fashionista," Kathy gushes of her now-41-year-old daughter, who was not only celebrating her birthday on Oct. 5 but also her new collaboration with Rebecca Vallance. "And if any of my friends or my sisters tried to go near, she would stand there like this, starting at 6 years old. And she used to love to play with all the bags and the clothes and the dresses and clomp around in the high heels."

As for whether or not she might have had any favorites in her mom's closet, Kathy tells PEOPLE that's a better question for her daughter. She does admit, though, that she's collected many "beautiful" things over the years that now fit both Nicky and her eldest daughter Paris Hilton, 43, so there may or may not be some closet sharing actually happening now.

Paris, Kathy and Nicky Hilton. 

Matt Winkelmeyer/VF24/WireImage for Vanity Fair

Nicky's collab with Rebecca Vallance — which she celebrated with her family at her parents' home, hosted by MyTheresa, on her birthday — is actually a first for the designer. Nicky tells PEOPLE that it felt extra special to be Vallance's first collaborative partner, especially because she's such a huge fan of the label.

"To be able to collaborate with one of my favorite designers is really a dream come true," Nicky says. "We have such a similar aesthetic and DNA and I think you will see that in all the pieces. She has such beautiful quality. I love the craftsmanship. It's really incredible."

The collab, which officially dropped on Oct. 1 and will be for the holidays, pushed Nicky and Vallance to think "outside the box," because Nicky didn't want just "jewel tones," which she says is what most brands do during this time of the year.

"I wanted to include some ice blues, which is my favorite color, and winter whites," she says.

Nicky Hilton x Rebecca Vallance. 

Courtesy Rebecca Vallance

And as Vallance tells it, the collab was born out of a girls' night bonding over margaritas.

"We thought it would be great to join forces for a holiday capsule collection," Vallance tells PEOPLE. "And I quickly reached out to some of our best retailers and they backed it straight away. So it's been so much fun. Nicky's a trained designer, obviously, as am I, and so we made this collection and we thought it would be smaller, and then everyone bought into it. So it's done super well already and we've really enjoyed the process. It's never felt like work. We've loved every second of it."

She says they spent the last year on countless Zoom calls and Skype calls, traveling back and forth to work on this project to bring it to life, and they're both over the moon to put it out into the world. And Vallance has nothing but nice things to say about the work that Nicky has put in.

Nicky Hilton x Rebecca Vallance. 

Courtesy Rebecca Vallance

"We have such respect for one another and such a healthy friendship that we just kind of challenged each other constantly on the collection," Vallance says. "I think it's really well-rounded, and I think it's 50% of her and it's 50% of me. I think some collaborations, people slap their name on it. This is absolutely not the case."

The collection is available now at Rebecca Vallance.

Source : people.com