At the 2024 Kentucky Derby, Dannielynn Birkhead paid emotional tribute to her late mother, Anna Nicole Smith, by wearing the same dress Anna once wore to the event, marking a poignant moment of remembrance and connection nearly two decades after her passing.

Eighteen years after the world lost the unforgettable Anna Nicole Smith, her daughter Dannielynn Birkhead is rewriting her mother’s legacy in a way that’s both heartbreaking and powerfully beautiful.

At this year’s Kentucky Derby, a glamorous and high-profile tradition that has become synonymous with celebrity appearances and eye-catching fashion, all eyes were on Dannielynn—not just because of her presence, but because of what she was wearing.

She arrived at the prestigious Barnstable Brown Gala in the exact same black and white halter dress that her mother wore to the same event in 2004. It was more than just a fashion moment; it was a quiet resurrection of a legend, a daughter embodying a memory.

The dress—timeless, elegant, with beaded floral embellishments and a plunging neckline—was an iconic piece from Anna Nicole’s wardrobe.

But for Dannielynn, it wasn’t about fashion. “It’s the closest thing to a hug I can get from her,” she said, summarizing a sentiment that moved many to tears.

Her appearance at the gala, with her father Larry Birkhead by her side, was both a tribute and a statement: she’s growing into her own identity while staying tethered to the memory of a mother she barely got to know.

Anna Nicole died when Dannielynn was just five months old, the victim of an accidental drug overdose that followed years of tabloid turmoil, courtroom battles, and public heartbreak.

Larry Birkhead, a photographer and longtime partner of Anna Nicole, has raised Dannielynn out of the public eye for most of her life.

But every year, the two make one exception: they attend the Kentucky Derby together. What started as a fluke—after a babysitter canceled and Larry decided to bring his daughter along—has now become a cherished ritual.

Each year, the father-daughter duo turn heads with their coordinated outfits, but this year, something was palpably different. This year, Dannielynn wasn’t just dressing up. She was channeling something sacred.

The dress came from an archive Larry has carefully maintained for years. After Anna Nicole’s death, he inherited a sprawling collection of her clothes, jewelry, and memorabilia. For years, he paid over $200,000 in storage fees to preserve it all.

“I didn’t want her legacy to disappear,” he explained. He has held on to everything, hoping that one day, when the time was right, Dannielynn could explore it herself.

That time has come. Now a young woman, Dannielynn has started going through her mother’s belongings, item by item, rediscovering a past that has always loomed large over her life but remained out of reach.

To those who knew Anna Nicole Smith only through headlines, she was often painted as a controversial figure: a former Playboy Playmate, a model who married an 89-year-old oil tycoon, a reality TV star, and the center of one of the most bitter inheritance battles in American legal history.

But to her daughter, she is something entirely different. A myth she is only now beginning to understand.

The Derby weekend gave Dannielynn the opportunity to reclaim that narrative—not through interviews or documentaries, but by simply walking into a room wearing her mother’s dress, standing tall in a moment of silent homage.

Anna Nicole’s life was a dizzying mix of glamour and pain. She rose to fame as a Guess model in the early ’90s, with her Marilyn Monroe-inspired image capturing the imagination of the public.

But fame came with a cost: addiction, loss, and constant scrutiny. Her marriage to J. Howard Marshall, the elderly billionaire oil magnate, made headlines and led to a years-long legal battle over his fortune. Following Marshall’s death, Anna’s life spiraled further into chaos.

She lost her son Daniel to an accidental overdose just days after Dannielynn was born, and less than six months later, Anna herself died under eerily similar circumstances.

In many ways, Dannielynn has grown up in the shadow of her mother’s legacy, with the world watching from a distance. But unlike other celebrity children thrust into fame, she’s been raised with careful deliberation.

Larry Birkhead, often praised for his low-key parenting style, has worked hard to give his daughter a stable, grounded upbringing in Louisville, Kentucky—far away from Hollywood.

Still, Dannielynn has remained a figure of fascination, especially as she grows older and more closely resembles her mother in both appearance and charm.

Her appearance at this year’s Derby reignited public interest—not just in her, but in Anna Nicole’s complicated life and unresolved legacy. Some see Dannielynn as the redemption of a tragic story, a living tribute to the star who never quite found peace.

Others are simply moved by the quiet beauty of a daughter choosing to remember her mother in the most intimate way possible: by stepping into her dress, her style, and her story.

As the Derby festivities wrapped up, the image of Dannielynn in Anna’s dress lingered in the minds of many. It wasn’t just about fashion—it was about grief, memory, and love.

It was about a child finding a way to connect with a mother who was more icon than memory. In a world that often reduces legacies to scandals and tabloid headlines, Dannielynn’s quiet tribute offered something rare: grace.

Whether she chooses to follow in her mother’s footsteps or forge her own path entirely, Dannielynn has already shown a deep understanding of who Anna Nicole Smith was—not just to the world, but to her.

And in that simple, stunning moment at the Kentucky Derby, she did something her mother never quite got to do: she reminded the world of the woman behind the spectacle.