Anthony Jones - Celebrity News Service Contributor
Miami, FL (CNS) - Rachel Zoe is back with the second season of her reality series "The Rachel Zoe Project," which critics and viewers found "to die" when it debuted last Fall. The 37-year-old celeb stylist returns to Bravo on August 24th with more A-list clients, some of fashion's biggest names, and drama that spans L.A. to Paris.
Season 2 starts off in the middle of the madness for Team Zoe, dressing celebrity clients like Cameron Diaz and Anne Hathaway for the Golden Globes. As a stylist to the stars, Zoe was already in the public eye for various reasons, including criticism for being too thin and dressing other ultra-thin stars like former friend Nicole Richie and Lindsay Lohan.
But those same celebrity blogs who posted some unstylish stories of the Hollywood fashionista were later quoting her seemingly endless catchphrases as heard on the show's first season. "It's a bit ironic. I think when I decided to do the show, one of my apprehensions was 'Oh, this is just going to give people more fuel to say nasty things about me,'" Zoe said. "But in effect, I really was just myself and I think people got true insight into who I am and what I do."
What she does was enough reason to tune in the first time, with an inside look at how Zoe helps some of Hollywood's biggest names go from dress-less to the Best Dressed list. If the first season was a love letter to fashion, the second season is an opus to some of the biggest designers in the game. On a trip to Paris Fashion Week, Team Zoe has encounters with illustrious designers like Giorgio Armani, Diane Von Furstenberg, and Karl Lagerfeld.
"For me, the designers are my celebrities. They're my heroes," she said. "So me standing there talking to Karl Lagerfeld or Christian Lacroix, I'm like a sixteen-year-old teenager. Even if I've met them several times before, each time is like the first time." Zoe said the second season's sharper focus on fashion was intentional. "It's really important for me to take the viewer into that world and see them up close and personal. It was a huge priority for me."
But while some elements of reality show formula essentially made the first season of "The Rachel Zoe Project" a success (fabulous lifestyles, on-camera breakdowns, "Quote of the Day"-ready one-liners), Zoe is content that her passion for fashion made her a must-watch television personality. "If public opinion turned a bit for the better, I think it's great," she said. "It wasn't my intention but it makes me happy that they see that I love my family, love my team, and that I'm a normal person."
I want him and Joey to make out already.
Looking forward to seeing her in Paris.
Can't wait either! 
