The New York Timespays homage to uber-stylist Rachel Zoe (pictured here with her husband, Rodger Berman at the 2007 Webby Awards), reporting on her rise to fame, her brilliant manipulation of the celebrity/tabloid/fashion zeitgeist, her Svengali-like plan which turned Nicole Richie from a Paris Hilton sidekick into a size 0 fashion icon, her plans to reinvigorate defunct fashion line Halston and -- of course -- Rachel's undying modesty about her power in the fashion world.
Zoe's job -- her innovation in the business -- was to maximize the fashion component of the Hollywood-equals-celebrity equation. And for Zoe, fashion means the red carpet. Movies don't necessarily depict a glamorous existence, but the red carpet has the gloss of perfection. When images of the girl and her gown are beamed around the globe, the dress, the bag, the shoes instantly become coveted symbols of a dream world. "The power of it all blows my mind every day," Zoe said as the Chanel show ended. "Anna Wintour is one of my heroes, but they say that I'm more influential. As great as it is, Vogue won't change a designer's business. But if an unknown brand is worn by a certain person in a tabloid, it will be the biggest designer within a week. When I worked with Nicole, there were things that she wore that designers had to remake for another season because there was such demand."
*****
Around the same time, magazines like Us Weekly began inventing their own cadre of celebrities, like Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. They had no discernible accomplishments or talent, but they did seem to go out a lot, and they thrived under the flash of the paparazzi. Magazines like Us constructed provocative narratives around them -- their romantic woes, their drug problems -- and Zoe, who began working with Richie in 2003 when she was viewed only as Hilton's plump sidekick, saw an opportunity. "Nicole is now what people refer to as the big thing that happened," Zoe told me in Paris. "Everything went from nowhere to everywhere. Nicole was about creating a look. Because of her fashion sense, which was really my fashion sense, she became famous. It was a huge moment: Nicole became a style icon without being a star."
And then Nicole became a star, too. Because of circumstances that remain murky, Nicole and Rachel no longer speak. But the relationship made their careers. Zoe began working with Lindsay Lohan, Kate Beckinsale and other tabloid-ready stars eager for a new fashion identity. Now she has 20 clients, each of whom reportedly pays her more than $6,000 a day to dress them for events, big and small. Some pay only for premieres and award shows; some also retain Zoe to provide clothes for their daily lives.
Perhaps Britney Spears could use a dose of Rachel. But it may be too late. Rachel says she wants to get away from the tabloid stars and move into pure high fashion pursuits. But remember, the celebrities and the tabloids are what made Rachel herself a star.
The New York Times 
