In less than one week, Rachel Zoe, arguably the most well-known stylist, is back for the second installment of her Bravo show “The Rachel Zoe Project.” The second installment of the fashion-forward drama delves further into the inner workings of the trio that makes up ‘Team Zoe’ as they jet set from coast to coast throwing charity auctions, attending store openings, and struggling with finding the perfect frocks for their celebrity clientele. It’s hard not to get excited about a show that Bravo execs have promised will include cameos from Giorgio Armani, John Galliano, Christian Lacroix, Karl Lagerfeld, Giambattista Valli, Diane Von Furstenberg, and Matthew Williamson, among others. But that’s not all. Rumors have been pervasive for years about Zoe’s influence on her clients, and this is addressed for the first time this season.
Were Mischa Barton, Lindsay Lohan, and Nicole Richie’s slimming bodies a result of Zoe’s pressure? The parties mentioned maintain that this is not the case. Zoe says it best – “They say I’m starving people. 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. 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.”
It seems natural to me to gravitate towards clients whose body and style she relates to and vice-versa for the celebrities. There’s no question that a number of the clients Zoe has worked with have picked-up her signature style, but as the stylist says, they are also wholly unique. In the same way that we don’t judge designers for their muses, why should we judge her for her clients?
“The Rachel Zoe Project,” returns Tuesday, August 25 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
