I think all developers have the right to change the looks of their characters. But also all players have the right to express whether they like the new looks or not. Both sides have to accept the opinions. But without feedbacks the developers do not know whether many players will like their creation or not. So insisting on the point "It's my game and my vision, I do what I like!" is a developer's right, but not very helpful, if you want to create something that many people will like - which is helpful if you want to earn money with it or just be successfull in terms of happy players.
In my opinion no redesign was an improvent.
Paris looks in my opinion now still okay and in a slightly above average way kind of cute. Before she was quite hot, even though a little bit unnatural, to be honest. Well, except the hair. It now looks like a peruke for carnival.
The three other girls all look to me like they have a touch of some kind of illness, at least at some pictures. And that is something that should always be avoided, because that can never be attractive. Except you really, really want them to look like that.
So saying "That's how I wanted them!" might be the truth, but if so many people say that they do not like the new looks, then maybe the own vision was just perhaps not the best idea, if you want many people to like what you created.