6 minute read
45 Cover Story – Rachel Zoe
STYLEMAKER
During a decade spanning reality TV, online media platform and clothing, accessories and homeware entrepreneur, Rachel Zoe evolved from stylist to the A-list to designer and fashion guru in her own right.
Advertisement
Raised in New Jersey, she was born Rachel Zoe Rosenzweig. The star of “The Rachel Zoe Project” which ran from 2008 to 2013 and catapulted her to international fame, dropped her surname at the start of her career as a fashion stylist. Zoe studied psychology and sociology at George Washington University in Washington DC, where she met her husband, Rodger Berman, but fashion was always her destiny. As she recounted in an essay in Gillian Zoe Segal’s “Getting There: A Book of Mentors”, Zoe took heed of her grandfather’s advice to follow her passion. “When I graduated from college, I had no idea what I wanted to do. My grandfather said ‘Do whatever it is that you love and success will come’. “I had always been in love with fashion. As a little girl, I was perpetually overdressed for everything and about five years ahead of the trend. When I got older, I was constantly doing everyone’s hair and makeup. Through a friend of a friend’s sister, I was able to land a job as a fashion assistant at YM, a teen magazine, in New York City. I didn’t even know what a fashion assistant was, but I figured that if it contained the word ‘fashion’, it was where I was meant to be.” Zoe spent the next few years producing and styling editorial fashion shoots, cultivating a unique flair for blending Boho and glam elements, and gaining a stellar network of designers, models, celebrities and publicists. Eventually she took a chance and made the leap to a career as freelance as a stylist. With her enviable black book of contacts, the jobs were immediate. “I was styling big music stars like the Backstreet Boys, Enrique Iglesias, Jessica Simpson, and Britney Spears, while also freelancing as a contributing editor for a number of fashion magazines. I was a one-woman show and working around the clock. I was on a plane every other day, travelling with 10 trunks of clothes. It was extremely exhausting, but I loved being on my own and finally making a decent income.” The allure of Hollywood and the LA lifestyle appealed to Zoe and Burman, and they moved west in 2002 with one objective: “to merge the worlds of Hollywood and fashion, because I felt that there was this huge disconnect”. Jennifer Garner was Zoe’s first high profile client who launched her into the celebrity spotlight in 2003. “The glamorous look I selected for Jen for the Emmys changed everything for me,” Zoe said, referring to the cream satin Narciso Rodriguez gown with ‘peekaboo cutouts’ she wore as a nominee for her role in the series Alias. “I transitioned into styling actresses and began working with Cameron Diaz, Kate Hudson, and Keira Knightley. I felt so lucky to be dressing such talented, beautiful women in haute couture. “I also started meeting all of the fashion designers I had always idolised from a distance. I couldn’t believe this was my job, but I don’t want to totally sugar-coat it. While I may have been attending movie premieres and hanging out with celebrities, I was there to fluff my clients’ trains, hold their handbags, and make sure they had ChapStick, lint brushes and snacks on hand. I was there to provide a service and never lost sight of that.” Due in part to her totally addictive reality TV series, “The Rachel Zoe Project”, Zoe cemented her credentials as stylist to the stars. Her “Zoe-isms” including “I die” to express delight when a look comes together, “I’m obsessed” about a fresh rack of designer gowns, “sexiness should be in the subtleties” and “glamour is a state of mind” became catchphrases of the show. Now, 10 years on, the stylist’s role has morphed to star stature. “A stylist used to be a very behind-the-scenes job, not really talked about. I wouldn’t even do an interview about my clients without permission from them. It was much more secretive. If we took pictures on Oscar night or premiere day, it was for our eyes only. “Now celebrities post pictures of their stylist, hair and makeup people nearly every time they get ready and credit them on Instagram. Instagram has made it significantly more possible for stylists to start brands of their own.” And since 2009, when she founded “The Zoe Report”, a newsletter covering fashion, beauty and lifestyle, Zoe’s brand has only boomed. In 2011, she launched her first contemporary collection of separates, footwear, handbags, jewellery and accessories influenced by her vintage-inspired style, available in US department stores and online. By 2015, The Zoe Report introduced “Box of Style”, a service that delivers a selection of Rachel Zoe-approved goods to subscribers’ doorsteps four times a year, along with various member benefits. “While I loved styling, I wanted to connect more directly with my followers, which inspired me to launch The Zoe Report to provide my editorial perspective, Rachel Zoe Collection to provide my design perspective and finally Box of Style, now rebranded as ‘Curateur’, which provides my curation perspective.” Of all the roles she’s taken on, motherhood influences her the most. Zoe and Berman have two sons, Skyler, 10, and Kaius, seven. “It’s given me a new, healthier set of priorities,” Zoe confessed. “I used to be very focused on myself. My career consumed and ran my life. “When something went wrong, I would let it affect me too much. When my first son was born, it was as if a new life started for me too. I now have two sons and spend my time wondering how I can make their lives the best for them. Petty things can still upset me, but only for a very short time now. I look at my kids and realise it does not matter. Negativity burns inside of you and keeps you awake at night. If you can avoid letting it consume you, I strongly suggest doing so. You will have more freedom to enjoy life and focus on important, productive things.” The pandemic reinforced Zoe’s commitment to family. Time confined at home together strengthened their family bonds. During 2020, Zoe and Berman launched a podcast together, titled “Works For Us”, where they divulge the secrets to their own lasting relationship and interview other famous duos. “Relationships are something we’re all faced with every minute of our lives,” Zoe said. “We felt it would be great to not only share our ‘recipe’, but more importantly, what’s the ‘secret sauce’ for everybody else? Why does it work for them?”
We’ve grown closer as a family. That’s been the best part of this insane awful year; the quality time. “
Time at home in the quiet hills of Brentwood also gave Zoe more time to focus on her range of homewares. “Now, more than ever, you have to make your athome atmosphere really count,” she said of the eponymous collection. “My home style and personal style are very similar. I have this split personality of glam with bohemian undertones. I love suedes and leathers and textures and sheep skins and faux furs and animal prints and earth tones. And then I kind of love to add gold accents and brass and lots of Missoni prints and colours.” Ever the fashion forecaster, Zoe predicts post-pandemic, fashion “will be born again”. As the original influencer, Zoe surmises fashion will diverge into two main branches catering to two types of buyers: those looking to stay “comfortable and continue to have a more casual lifestyle, and another group that will absolutely thrive on the resurrection of glam, wanting to dress up to go to the grocery store”. The key is expressing yourself, your mood and taking a risk. “I believe everyone can style themselves. You don’t have to be rich or a VIP. And fashion should always be fun. If you don’t take chances, then what’s the fun in playing the game?”
