Rachel Zoe

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Old Married Couple

Rachel Zoe talks about bickering with Brad and how cool Gwen Stefani is.

Aug 17, 2010

Bravotv.com: So, you got the phone call from Naomi. What was that like?
It was like, “Oh, my God, I need to do this. How am I doing this?” You know, it was kind of like one of those things. You can’t pick the timing of one of the biggest earthquakes in history, a disaster, and it’s like, you know what? I’ve been knocking my brain, since the earthquake happened, about, “What more do I do?” Do I donate money? There’s got to be more that I can do. This is the perfect thing. It was just the perfect thing, so, I was super excited. It was an adrenaline rush, and when you’re working that hard for such a good reason, it would be the most gratifying thing I’ve done in my career. It was just kind of like, when you work that hard every day, and when you’re doing it and you know every bit of that money is going to save lives, and for Haiti relief, you think, “Oh, my God, I just want to do one of these once a month.”

Bravotv.com:It seemed that you didn't have as many donations as you needed at the beginning.
I think it’s one of those things. It’s a perfect example of training. On-the-job training. Brad hadn’t done a fashion show. And I’ve worked on a lot of fashion shows in my life, and a lot of times when you’re doing fashion shows, you’re working on one designer’s collection; you’re not collecting samples, you know what I mean? And this is one of the things that was challenging, of course. You know, we had to make it happen. It was something we couldn't take lightly. This was just something, that I think I expected a lot more to be there than there actually was. So it was just like, “Oy,” you know?
So, but at the same time, it was like everyone was donating their time, you have to keep that as a reference, but nonetheless, you treat it the same way. It doesn’t matter if it’s a charity, they’ll treat it as it’s a major honor. It was 92 looks for God’s sake.

Bravotv.com: Were you treating Naomi like a client?
Well, yeah. Naomi and I have been friends for a long time. We have worked together in the past and for sure, I looked at this as being hired for a job, which I was, and not wanting to let anybody down. A lot of pressure. It was insanity is what it was. We really did have the fittings like five minutes before the show. Yeah it was insane. Hence the term “supermodel.”

Bravotv.com: And it was the day before you got the news about Alexander McQueen?

Oh my God, yeah. Literally the day before. Literally the day before the show, and, you know, obviously it was one of the most devastating moments in fashion history for sure, I mean, a lot of the models involved in the show like Lena, and Elfin and, Angela Limball, and especially Naomi, were very, very, very close to Alexander McQueen for many, many years. So it was one of those things, and I have to give Naomi so much credit, because, you know, most people would have canceled the show and just cracked under, you know, under, under, you know, this whole thing. You know, we’re completely blindsided and not able to cope with it, and she just rallied and was like, you know, “We gotta do this.” And we did that amazing tribute at the end of the show and everything and, you know, everyone cried, and it was just one of those things, you know? It was a very emotional show. Very emotional show. You know, just seeing these ninety looks come down and all these people put in effort and everything else, and all the clothes that were being donated and all of that and at the end—and you realize that’s all for Haiti relief—and then, the Alexander McQueen tribute, and you’re just like, “Oh, my God. Don’t know if I could take this.”

Bravotv.com: Did this affect your scheduling and planning for other Fashion Week events?
I had to cancel a lot of meetings and stuff that I booked for a few days before I came, but yeah, I pretty much cleared everything.

Bravotv.com: It seemed like Jordan and Ashley really held it down on the West Coast.
They’re great. They were both superstars. Jordan has really gone from being an intern to being a complete star. She’s just amazing. She works so hard. I have never seen her sitting down. Seriously amazing. I’m not kidding. I’m like, “Jordan, sit.” She’s like, “No, it’s fine.” She’s awesome and she did a great job. It’s great. I was very blessed. It’s an incredible team.

Bravotv.com: We see a little bit of tension between you and Brad, which we don't usually see.
Oh yeah, I think what happens with Brad and I is, you know, because we’re so close, I think sometimes we could be like a married couple, an old married couple, and just start to bicker, get like snippy with each other because you can only really do it with people you are super-comfortable with. And I think that was one of those moments where I was really, really frustrated, and I didn’t love my choices, and I knew that there wasn’t enough. I knew Naomi was going to be really freaked out; it just wasn’t enough. But what I try and do is try and prepare him for that, by saying that there is not enough, and you have to understand there isn’t enough. You can’t paint this like, “Oh, we'll get more options tomorrow.” It’s like, “We need this now,” and so, that’s kind of how things go. It’s almost like tough love sometimes, and it only happens a few times a year, but that’s sort of as tough as I get, but sometimes I just get a little short-fused. And then at the end I’m like, “I’m sorry.”

Bravotv.com: Have you ever seen Brad freaked out? Because I kind of see that he was more freaked out, but wasn’t verbalizing it.
Well yeah, he kind of does. He gets really quiet, which then freaks me out. We sort of have this brother-sister married couple sort of thing, this rapport, where we just get a little quiet or we get a little pissy or just get like short. And that’s kind of what happened.

Bravotv.com: And we can't not talk about Gwen Stefani.
She’s awesome. She’s amazing. She’s like the coolest girl ever. She’s unreal. She just is. She’s unreal. I’m just a huge fan of hers. I think if you looked up “quintessential cool” in the dictionary: Gwen Stefani. Seriously. She’s like this incredible mother. She’s an amazing wife. Unbelievable style. Her kids are amazing. And she puts so much into that clothing line. She’s really hands-on. And you could see it. You could see her in the clothes.