Sunday, August 22, 2010

The Rachel Zoe Project: Changes in the Zoe Camp by Kara Howland

So…I wanted to try to do a marathon and catch up on all three episodes so far but I totally ran out of time this weekend. I’m hoping to catch up by the end of the week (wish me luck). In the meantime, I got one episode watched.

With Taylor’s shady departure and awards season imminent, Brad (now the Style Director) has to bring another person into the business. And what happened to Taylor you ask? Fired. The “financials” weren’t lining up. It seems like she was “borrowing” samples and never returning them and from what Rodger says it looks like her expense reports weren’t on the level either. Wow. I have no problem accusing Taylor of being a bratty drama queen (and perhaps also brilliant in terms of her styling) but I would have never pegged her for a thief and a liar. Seriously.

Rachel and Rodger starting looking to hire another person. Brad says this person will replace Taylor, but I don’t think that’s really true. They don’t seem to want another associate. They want an assistant and even though Taylor complained loudly about still performing assistant duties, technically she wasn’t an assistant.

Rachel thinks all six applicants are so green. And they are. Someone who is an “assistant” at Rachel Zoe is probably an associate somewhere else. And, of course, Rachel’s stressing about making the decision – she wants to make sure she picks a person who is no drama.

On top of everything they’ve just been hit with a Harper’s Bazaar shoot with Demi Moore. It’s shooting in four days with 10 looks, but Rachel wants 30 looks to choose from. It will be a playful and prop-y shoot, based on what they know now. The way it works is Rachel picks her looks from the runway, emails the editorial department and they try to pull as many pieces as possible. Rachel also brings her own pieces in. It’s a good thing the look books have just come in. Demi was Taylor’s client so Brad is feeling a bit stressed. It would be a disaster if any of Taylor’s clients left Rachel to go work with Taylor.

Since the concept isn’t 100% set, Brad wants to take a lot of looks to the shoot. He wants to prove that he can do more than Taylor was doing.

Bazaar sends Rachel a list of images they’ll be using in the shoots – oversized and undersized props. Brad is surprised to see a giraffe on the list with all the other props.

Rachel gets a call that her old agency is now repping Taylor and that they’ve sent out a press release about it. And Rachel didn’t know anything about this. You have to admit that it’s a shrewd move by both Taylor and Rachel’s old agency. Whatever the real story is, Taylor is a stylist and she’s going to do whatever she needs to do to get a job.

Rachel’s feeling the pressure. She wants Demi and Bazaar to be happy and she wants the photographs to be iconic and beautiful.

The shoot is in Malibu and all the looks are from the Spring runways. Rachel’s going for Alice in Wonderland, a little surreal and little dream-like. The shoot seems to be going well but there is one Marc Jacobs piece that Rachel keeps asking Brad about that isn’t there yet. Brad’s definitely feeling like they’re short-staffed; there’s only so much he can do (a refrain I feel like we heard a lot from Taylor). When the bloomer outfit arrives but there seem to be undergarments missing so they decide not to use it.

Location change. They move from the house to the beach. Rachel has to be carried down to the beach because of her shoes. She claims not to own flats, which I believe. Here comes the giraffe and Demi is in the Alexander McQueen. Beautiful.

With the Bazaar shoot done, Rachel makes the call to Ashley. She’s hired. She needs to start immediately because they’re so insane right now.

Brad wants Rachel to see the latest issue of Paper before she’s ambushed with her. A while back Brad and Taylor were approached by the magazine and asked to style each other for a photo shoot. At the time it was a great idea, now it’s awkward now. Rachel tears Taylor’s pictures up, throws them in the fireplace, and wants to light a fire. She doesn’t wish Taylor the best. Rachel just wants Taylor out of her mind.

What a great episode. More than anything I watch the show for the fashion. Sometimes I want to fast-forward through all the drama. Whether or not Taylor is on the show, there will always be drama. Rachel is always freaking out about something and so is Brad. Rachel’s’ studio seems like the perfect environment for that. I just roll my eyes and go with it. I do think both Rachel and Brad have every right to feel betrayed and angry. But they both need to get over it and do their jobs. I know Taylor was with Rachel for four years and she considered her family, but cut those heartstrings Rachel. Stuff like this happens all the time in the business world. You hope it won’t happen to you but you’ve got to move on when it does.

I, for one, am very excited about awards season. I always like seeing all the dresses and the finished looks. I can’t wait to see what Rachel puts on her clients for the Globes. And who is the mystery client who defects to Taylor for the big show? I don’t know since I haven’t watched that episode yet. But when I do, I’ll meet you back here.

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