Nicky Hilton Rothschild Biography

Nicky Hilton Rothschild was born as Nicholai Olivia Hilton on October 5, 1983 in New York City, USA. Her father, Richard Hilton, is an heir of the Hilton Hotels. He is also the chairman and co-founder of Hilton & Hyland, a real estate brokerage firm based in Beverly Hills, California.

Her Mother, Kathleen Elizabeth Hilton nee Avanzino, is an actress, fashion designer and philanthropist. Born second of her parents’ four children, Nicky has an elder sister, Paris Whitney Hilton, and two younger brothers, Barron Nicholas Hilton II and Conrad Hughes Hilton III.

Nicky spent her early years in Los Angeles, returning to the East Coast with her family possibly in 1996. In an interview, she described her childhood as amazing, living in hotel suites instead of regular homes, accompanying their parents wherever they went. “We just slotted into their lives,” she said.

Paris and Nicky were raised like all other children, going to school in school bus. They were also encouraged to raise money with neighborhood bake sales and buy toys with it, which would then be distributed among the children at the children’s hospital, thus learning that not all children are equally privileged.

Early in their life they were taught that money must be earned. While in high school she started modeling, appearing in ‘Vanity Fair’ at the age of sixteen with her sister by her side. By seventeen, she had started designing her own collection of handbags.

In 2001, Nicky graduated from Convent of the Sacred Heart, an all-girls Catholic school located in Manhattan. Thereafter, she took fashion courses first at Fashion Institute of Technology and then at Parsons School of Design. However, she left without earning her degree.

In 2000, while Nicky Hilton was barely seventeen years old, she began her career in fashion with designing handbags for a Japanese company called Samantha Thavasa. Her products are now sold in flagship stores both in USA and Japan, some of her celebrity patrons being Britney Spears, and Tara Reid.

In 2004, she branched out to clothing, launching her own clothing line called ‘Chick’. Although created for high fashion, the collection was moderately priced and featured popular items like sweatsuits, hoodies, jeans, long-sleeved thermal tops etc.

Along with designing clothes, she also continued modeling, becoming the face of Australian underwear line Antz Pantz alongside Kimberly Stewart in 2005. Around the same time, she also modeled for the cover of the New Zealand and Romanian editions of ‘Lucire’, a popular fashion magazine.

In 2006, she tried to go into hotel business, entering into a partnership to open a ‘Nicky O Hotel’ by converting a 95-room complex in Miami. Another such hotel was to be opened in Chicago. But it did not work out and the deal fell through by the following year.

In 2007, Nicky Hilton started her second clothing line, ‘Nicholai’, holding her first fashion show for the spring/summer 2008 season on September 9 during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York City. Meant for high end customers, it had a higher price tag.

In 2010, she diversified into jewelry, launching her first fashion jewelry line. Created in an Art Deco style, they cost anything from $82.50 to $740 with an average price range of $200 per piece.

In 2014, Hilton launched a 10-piece collection with eLuxe, taking care to reflect her personal style, naming them after the women in her family. Also, in the same year, she published her first book, ‘365 Style’.

In 2015, Nicky Hilton launched a classic collection of handbags, collaborating in this project with Linea Pelle. Also in the same year, she collaborated with Smashbox, an Estée Lauder brand, to create a cosmetic line. It consisted of three limited-edition cat-inspired makeup kits.

In 2019, she collaborated with fashion-comfort brand French Sole New York to create a capsule collection of shoes, adding an extra padding to them for the ultimate comfort. The shoes are priced between $125 and $225.

On August 15, 2004, Nicky Hilton married her childhood friend and businessman Todd Meister. The ceremony was held at 2:30 A.M. at the Vegas Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada. However, the marriage did not last long and their marriage was annulled within three months.

On August 27, 2011, she met James Rothschild, a member of the Rothschild banking family of England, at a friend’s wedding. Although he lived in London and she in Los Angeles, they soon started dating and got engaged on August 12, 2014. They tied the knot on July 10, 2015 in London.

The couple has two daughters: Lily Grace Victoria Rothschild (born in July 2016) and Teddy Marilyn Rothschild (born in December 2017). They are now based in New York City and Mr. Rothschild is currently the chief executive of JR Cap Ltd., an investment and advisory company he founded in New York.

In 2003, Nicky Hilton was offered a role in the reality television series, ‘The Simple Life’ along with her sister Paris. However, she opted out possibly because she was till then not used to limelight. Some other sources claim that she rejected the offer because she did not want to lead a simple life.

Born into a family of Norwegian, Italian, Irish, German, English, Scottish, and Welsh descent, she was named after her granduncle, Conrad Nicholson Hilton, Jr. Her childhood nickname was Chick because she looked like one.