Paper was founded in 1984 by Kim Hastreiter and David Hershkovits, former editors at the SoHo Weekly News, with help from Lucy Sisman and Richard Weigand.

[4] Past cover models include Kim Kardashian,[5] Katy Perry,[6] Miley Cyrus,[7] Prince,[8] CL,[a] Kacey Musgraves,[10] Jennifer Lopez,[11] and BTS.

Florio told WWD he was unsure when publication would resume, or if the company would continue with it at all, saying "Part of me is open enough to allow this thing to really roll out digitally and socially in the way where most people know Paper.

[17] In April 2023, in the wake of reduced advertising revenues since the pandemic, the magazine's staff was laid off and editorial operations ceased.

[18] In September 2023, Paper resumed operations with Justin Moran returning as editor-in-chief after the publication was acquired by Brian Calle & Street Media in June.

[24] The second, titled 20 Years of Style: The World According to Paper, was published by HarperCollins in 2004 and featured writing from Michael Musto, John Waters, Isaac Mizrahi, Pedro Almodovar, Todd Oldham, Patrick McMullan, and Anna Sui.