Rachel Zoe - Stylist (July 2005 - March 2010)

[Crakk]

I would love to see Rachel in something form-fitting and short.

[kimair]

Rachel Zoe helps dress stars such as Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Garner and Anne Hathaway, but clearly that isn’t enough. So Zoe is expanding her reach beyond styling, recently launching a newsletter, “The Zoe Report,” and Web site, and she’ll introduce an accessories line this fall. Meanwhile, her reality show on Bravo, “The Rachel Zoe Project,” will return for its second season on Aug. 24. WWD caught up with her at the Bowery Hotel during a recent trip to New York City to discuss fashion, a life in front of the camera and how she’s adapting to the more frugal economy.

WWD: When you look back at the first season, what were some of the things you learned?
Rachel Zoe: First, I need to develop an edit button for the things that come flying out of my mouth. You don’t know what you sound like until you see yourself on television. I have a hard time watching it.

WWD: Rumors flew during Oscar season that some of your clients — Debra Messing and Cameron Diaz, specifically — had dropped you.
R.Z.: That wasn’t true. The irony of that was I was booked on jobs with them [at the time].

WWD: What’s the worst thing you’ve read about yourself?
R.Z.: They’re all ridiculous. [They say I’m] starving people, [I’m] getting drugs for people. Seriously, I have to have a migraine to take a Tylenol. The whole size zero thing, not one of my clients is a size zero. Not one. [They say] that all of my clients look the same. Are you going to tell me that Jennifer Garner is dressed like Cameron Diaz and Liv Tyler looks like Kate Hudson? It doesn’t make any sense. These people are just printing things to print things. It is what it is. You want to crawl up into a ball, you want to hide, you want to quit your job, you want to disappear. I’ve developed a bit of a thicker skin, but I’m not going to say it doesn’t hurt, because it does.

WWD: What can viewers expect in season two?
R.Z.: It takes us through awards season, and to Paris. We do a lot of editorial shoots. We did shoots for Marie Claire, Glamour and V magazines.

WWD: The second season was shot just as the economy crashed in the fall. Do viewers see the impact of the recession on your business during the show?
R.Z.: All throughout awards season we felt it. For years designers would come out [to Los Angeles] and set up suites for 10 days and this year there were barely any suites. People couldn’t make a ton of dresses. [Designers would say], “We can’t make 10 custom-made dresses without knowing that any of them would be worn.” It’s a gamble. And it’s always been, but in a different economy they can say, “Oh, we’ll make them now and if no one wears them now, someone will wear them later.”

We’re in an industry that is about glitz and glamour and trends and luxury. For the last couple of years, it’s been sky’s the limit. Almost every bag manufacturer was putting out bags that were going up to $30,000 or more, in crocodile or whatever, and these were actually selling. At some point, that was going to go back down.

WWD: How have you adapted your business to serve clients in this economy?
R.Z.: We’ve toned it down a bit. Most of my clients are respectful of what’s going on, but we still want that aspirational fantasy. I always want to turn on my television and see so-and-so look like the most glamorous woman in the world. Personally, I find myself recycling what’s in my closet. I’m saying, remember that jacket, I’m going to wear it again. It forces you to look at what you have, what you don’t need and shop wisely.

wwd / august 19, 2009

[haksare]

Great interview, thank you Can't wait to start watching the new season, Paris!

[Melly5525]

^me too so excited for the new season and that pic w/ the interview is gorgeous love the Vuitton jacket!

[adorevintage]

So excited for the new season!

[BetteT]

Moderators Note:

See thread rules in Post #1 of this thread.

Please restrict comments in this thead to her work and her style. All discussion about her show should be taken to this thread in the Entertainment forum: The Rachel Zoe Project ... Television Show

And a reminder about our rule about "no weight talk" except in one thread: The Model & Celeb Weight Thread [Read post #1 before posting] #2


Thanks, everyone!

[Party_Vixen]

Rachel Zoe's Studio: See What's Inside
by Rachel Strugatz

Already a major player in the fashion industry, the Rachel Zoe empire continues to grow.
The mega-stylist became a household name several years ago after lending her finely tuned fashion eye to A-list stars who needed that extra edge both on and off the red carpet. She currently reigns as the most sought after celebrity stylist, boasting a roster of bold-faced names such as Cameron Diaz, Lindsay Lohan, Debra Messing, Keira Knightley, and Anne Hathaway.

Rachel's jacket and shoes are Louis Vuitton, jeans are Seven For All Mankind, and jewelry is vintage.

Zoe often styles her clients much like how she dresses herself: flowing clothes infused with Bohemian glamor, long wavy hair, and always heavy on the accessories. In addition to her own uniform, which includes anything bell-bottomed or wide-legged, Zoe is vocal about her perennial love for platform shoewear and an excess of vintage. In addition to being called upon regularly for her styling expertise, Zoe consults for Gap and Piperlime.com, published a New York Times bestselling book, stars in a hit Bravo reality show, has a new website, and is coming out with a line of accessories for QVC. See below for a look at Rachel's style icons, the items for fall that she can't live without, and her new website that she maintains daily.

Rachel Zoe's studio

Rachel Strugatz: Describe your personal style.
Rachel Zoe: My personal style is definitely grounded in 60s and 70s -- I can't seem to get out of it and it's what works best for me. I love the glam bohemian thing, the music from the 60s and the 70s, everything about the women in this era: Marianne Faithful, Bianca Jagger, Edie Sedgwick, Brigitte Bardot, Ali McGraw, the women of Halston and Yves Saint Laurent- there are so many. It's the whole time period that goes into Studio 54 -- it's glamor, sexy glamor.

RS: What is your go-to outfit?
RZ: I would say a pair of bell bottom jeans- either wide leg or bell bottom that are high waisted too- with a t-shirt or tank from Alexander Wang or Phillip Lim, and usually a Chanel or Louis Vuitton jacket- vintage or new. And always platforms -- those are either Louis Vuitton, Brian Atwood, Lanvin, Azzedine Alaia, or Christian Louboutin.

RS: What are your must-have items this fall?
RZ: A tuxedo jacket -- I love the one from Balmain. I also love the bags that Marc Jacobs did for Louis Vuitton for the fall- they are amazing. I am obsessed with leggings and I love the leather pair by Rag and Bone. When it comes to leggings I stick to black- black leather or black stretch leggings. Any leggings for fall are great. I love the jewelry that Karl Lagerfeld did for Chanel with all the jade and the onyx. He did this thing that goes around your fingers like rings but it's sort of a bracelet into a ring. I love the color combination. The neon pieces Marc Jacobs' pieces are incredible- the yellow wrap coat in particular.

RS: What inspires you?
RZ: So many periods in fashion inspire me depending on the client I am working with. Primarily it's the designers and what they show on their runways that inspire me. That's why it's so important that I go to the shows because I leave with a ton of ideas- whether it's couture or ready to wear. That's what gets me excited to do the next project. When I see what designers are showing, it tells me what's happening now, this is what's going on now, this is what will work with that client, etc.

Another view of Rachel Zoe's studio

RS: How do you stay relevant?
RZ: It's not ever an intention -- I keep working harder and harder at my job and diversifying in the kind of work I do. We just launched my website on August 4th- it crashed on the first day because we had too much traffic but everyone kept saying it was a good thing.
I update my site everyday. I personally pick what goes onto the site, and it takes a lot of time- it's really important because I don't want to put something out there that I'm not excited about. From Monday to Friday there will be a key item and that will dictate a trend of an idea- and if it's an item that's super expensive, I'll always give an alternate that I call "parallel universe." You're in the same universe, you're just getting it for less money. What we're doing is the daily newsletter, and each day will be a different category: apparel, beauty, lifestyle, jewelry, etc.
There's a section called "Ask Rachel" and because I'm very infatuated with twitter, people can ask me questions through my site and link to twitter. I always give advice and things like that as we move forward. Ultimately, I want to sell products on the site and have an e-commerce component- it will be a resource for everything. Everything I put on the site links to a place you can purchase. But baby steps first- I want to get it right and then the people that are looking at it will give their feedback.
I'm also launching of collection on QVC. It's a line of bags, jewelry, hats, scarves outerwear, and sunglasses- so that's really exciting. It's a very accessible price point and everything is under $150. The jewelry is way under $100 and the bags are about $120 but almost everything is in that range.

5 Things About Rachel...
1. She loves to cook and bake. Her favorite thing to make is chocolate chip banana bread.
2. She's a good tennis player and a great skier.
3. She's obsessed with Warren Buffet.
4. She always has to watch Friends and Will and Grace before she goes to sleep. It's too hard for her to pick a favorite Friends character -- she loves them all.
5. The last book she read was The World of Coco Chanel: Friends, Fashion, Fame by Edmonde Charles-Roux.

Rachel Zoe is wearing a Missoni caftan and vintage Yves Saint Laurent ring.

huffingtonpost.com

[haksare]

All those shoes!! Is Rachel hiring?

[Florecita86]

I would die to have that many shoes. I would love to raid that closet!

[Crakk]

Rachel is just too much. Work, Rach. Her clothing studio is SICK.

[Versace-Goddess]

I want her closet room.

[waxy]

must be fun to play dress-up in her studio!!

[Emilee]

Rachel Zoe 2009-08-22 - on Malibu Beach
celebrityparadise

[mrsjamesdean]

Holy crap its a shoe orgasm!

[eternitygoddess]

She has more shoes than Imelda Marcos.