Rachel Zoe Reveals How Red Carpet Changed Since First Stylists Issue

In March 2011, The Hollywood Reporter did its first cover feature on a red carpet stylist, and compiled a list of other top stylists dressing the best actors in town. Nobody really knew what fashion stylists did, that celebrities even had help in dressing for their events, and certainly nobody recognized the names or faces of these behind-the-scenes characters.

Fast forward, past 15 years of THR’s annual Power Stylists Issues later, and these stylists now wield enormous power and influence across the fashion industry globally — some are even household names — a phenomenon that neither THR nor the very first cover girl, Rachel Zoe, could ever have predicted. In that decade and a half, the publication produced 56 covers, 101 shoots and an enviable lineup of 107 stars from the worlds of entertainment, music and sports posing alongside their glam gurus. This year, we showcased Hollywood stylists who have worked with cover subjects Glen Powell, Zoe Saldana, Cynthia Erivo, Charli XCX, Troye Sivan, Sebastian Stan and Anna Sawai.

Here THR talks with Rachel about the seismic changes in the industry since that very first issue, how it changed her career and who is floating her boat nowadays.

I can’t believe that was 15 years ago. And because you were pregnant on the cover, that means that your eldest is…?

Isn’t that insane? Yes, my son Sky is turning 14 in three weeks. Not only was I pregnant, but I gave birth a week later. Every time I look at that cover, I have this relived moment of remembering what was happening at that time. Because it was also the year that I styled Anne Hathaway for the Oscars. She was hosting with James Franco.

Oh my, that Oscars.

I know. I know. I think we did something like 12 outfits, plus the carpet. And I was eight months pregnant and I had bronchitis. I remember that [cover] moment like it was yesterday. I’m wearing the Halston from my archives.

You and I have both been through that Oscar hell, that is so much work. I styled Regina Hall when she presented in 2022, which of course was The Slap year, and to do all of those numerous changes backstage in minutes! I can’t believe you did that when you were pregnant. Well, here you are, 15 years later and still queen. Red carpet styling has changed massively over these past 15 years. What do you see as the biggest changes, both positive and negative?

Pretty much everything has changed. On the positive, there’s no more of the best versus worst. I mean, there is a little bit. But there isn’t the shaming and the negativity, and the disgusting opinions of people that can barely dress themselves. And so I love that that is over.

I would disagree though, because Iook at the rise of all the new social media folks with opinions. It’s getting really nasty again. These people are unqualified to be commenting, “No, I don’t like that. No, I don’t like this.” Who are they? They’re not trying to be Joan Rivers. They’re not funny. It’s just cruel. I guess they couldn’t make it elsewhere in the business. So it makes me really sad, because they have no idea how much effort goes into styling.

Agreed. But I don’t pay attention to them. I just don’t take it that seriously.

I’ve spoken to a few of the stylists and they say they don’t care. They don’t look at it, and it doesn’t matter. Which is a good thing.

Right. A big part of my job, before I took a pause, was that I would have conversations with my client about the media: what kind of media was going to understand the look versus who would not. Between something that felt safer, more glamorous and more crowd pleasing, versus something that was a bit more potentially controversial, or something that some people might understand or not understand.

I would say, in full disclosure, “People may not understand this look. I love it. This is my first choice. This is what’s the most interesting, but maybe this is something we save for the Met Ball, or the CFDA Awards (Council of Fashion Designers of America), or something that’s a bigger fashion moment, rather than a universally pleasing moment.” And then kind of put it on them a little bit, so that it was just not as scary in that sense.

So I think a lot of that petty criticism, at least you don’t see it on E! and channels like that any more. “Oh my God, what were they thinking? I can’t believe she wore that.” Or like, “Oh my God, she looks like a clown.” That is no longer, which I think is lovely.

But I do think there’s a lot of creativity that’s also been lost. A lot of my favorite things on the runway don’t get worn. The industry has shifted in a way where so many people have [fashion designer] contracts that they have to stay within.

I was going to bring that up. There are so many brand ambassadors, has that narrowed the creativity?

Yes. And listen, I understand it. Look, actors want to do movies where they win Oscars, and typically those movies have no budgets. So it’s like, us as stylists, the things that you love the most typically pay the least.

So you have to balance it. And it is a business. It is the business of fashion more than it’s ever been. And on all sides, they have to play that business game. Because all the stylists, the hair, the makeup, manicurist, everyone is launching their brands and products.

I think that one of the biggest differences from when I was styling was that I was not posting [on social media] with my clients. Twitter was maybe just happening then. My clients were definitely not posting that I styled them. I had the most amazing clients, but we did it all very privately, behind closed doors. And yes, of course I was pulled into the public eye. It became this sort of constant, “What are they wearing? What were you thinking? What was the inspiration?” All that. Now, before they hit a red carpet, everybody has already seen the pictures. Back then it was like, oh my God, literally everyone would be blowing up my phone. What was the choice? Was it the Valentino, or was it the Versace, or was it the Gucci?

Now, it’s a press release and it’s contractual.

I think a lot of the mystery is gone now.

Yes, it’s true. It’s much more of a pay-to-play thing. Also sometimes I look at an outfit and I’m asking why would you put that necklace with that dress? It doesn’t work at all. And then I’m like, oh wait …

That’s because they were paid. It is different. You have to change with the times, or you don’t, and you move on. It is now acceptable that the stylist, hair, makeup and everyone else, is part of the narrative and in the spotlight. That is almost expected on some level. Whereas when I was doing it, if people wanted to interview me on a carpet when I was with a client, I would say no. If you wanted to take a picture of me on a carpet with a client, I’d say no.

When you started, did you ever think that you would be the one that was going to become famous?

Not in any life. I never wanted to be famous. I became accidentally famous, truthfully. Because if you called my parents right now, they would say to you, from the day I graduated college, my dad’s like, “You’re on the wrong side of the camera. You need to be in front.” And I would say, “Dad, I am the person that declines the lead in the play,” which I’ve done. I declined the role of Sandy to play Cha Cha in Grease. I was always more comfortable behind. I really was.

Someone might say, well, but you did a reality show (The Rachel Zoe Project). The answer to that is the intention of that show was to not be about me. It was actually to be about the designers. Actually, I was trying to be Elsa Klensch for CNN Style.

It was to really highlight my heroes: John Galliano, Karl Lagerfeld, Donatella Versace and Jean-Paul Gaultier. That was the dream. Can I talk to these people? Can I meet them? Can I sit in their homes, in their studios? I’m so starry-eyed for them. Marc Jacobs, you know.

I think it was your husband Rodger in the 2011 THR piece that said, “Do you really think anybody could name another stylist?” Because I mean, I don’t think people knew what the word stylist meant?

They didn’t. If I said I was a stylist, what they said was, “Do you do hair?” That was the response. I think it frustrated me, to an extent. At the time, because there wasn’t really the social media aspect, right? There wasn’t really anything on TV. Perhaps Project Runway may have started a year or two prior. People didn’t understand the process. It really upset me that there was this curtain. People would come out in these looks, or in these photo shoots, or whatever it was, and no one knew: “How does this happen?” My idols were Grace Coddington and Carine Roitfeld. And I would say, “How do you not know who they are? What do you mean?” And so there was this real obsession for me about trying to make people understand this process of the magic of fashion, and how it gets on to pages, and how it gets on to the runway, and how it gets on to a red carpet.

Do you remember, the editorial stylists very much used to look down on red carpet styling back in the day, as well? This was before they realized there was any money in it!

I was not cool. Yeah, no, I was very looked down upon by many people in the industry, but I loved doing it. I just loved it.

Models were on the cover of magazines, then suddenly it was celebrities, and then suddenly it was all about red carpet styling. Once the celebrities took over from the models, then the red carpet styling caught up to editorial, because that was where the publicity was. Then that was where the advertising was for the designers as well, on the carpet.

A hundred percent, a hundred percent.

And then, just going back to the THR list then, do you think that being on the list could change the career trajectory for a stylist? Being in The Hollywood Reporter?

It’s so funny. What I very much remember was when Hollywood Reporter actually told me about this, I don’t think I realized it was a big deal at the time, because I was the first, right? I was doing so many shoots, and I was so in my head with work 24/7, about to have a baby. I couldn’t even wrap my head around really what was happening. Because everything at that point was just the job. I loved everything I was doing, but it was so crazy.

What was so interesting about it was the following year. They called my publicist and they said, “Okay, well, you’ve already been the number one and now” — because I think the following year I had a really big year, five clients going through award season or something — the magazine said something like, “Well, now we’re just going to put you as this, sort of “too big to rank,” or something like that. It was the funniest thing. And I just remember going, “What does that even mean?” I love the media.

But it was an honor and it was, as you know, being the first of anything, and I’ve been the first of a lot of things, not always a positive. I’ve heard things like, “You’re the oracle. You’re the pioneer. You created this. You created that.”

It’s tougher because you’re breaking new ground.

Correct. And people are not typically accepting. When I look at my friends that are stylists now, of which I have many. Like Rob [Zangardi] and Mariel [Haenn] or Karla [Welch], or any of those guys, it’s interesting because I’m like, “You don’t understand how lucky you are.” That you have the support of the clients. You have the support of their teams, you have the support of them to launch your own products and brands. You can talk about them freely. They’ll pose with you on covers of things to support you. And that is a really different time, I can tell you it is. But I was ashamed.

I wouldn’t talk about a client unless I got their approval. If I got the approval of the publicist, if I called their agents, and I was like, “Hey, Harper’s Bazaar wants to interview me about what so-and-so wore. But I don’t need to do it unless you guys want me to do it.” Now I think it’s like a free-for-all in many ways. It’s sort of like media is media, and I think the teams are happy for them to talk about it.

There was a time when the clients used to deny having a stylist.

Correct. And now, I mean, it’s so interesting. Now you see the spray tanners, the facialists, the hair colorists, the people that do the extensions. … It is a credit for all, which is a beautiful thing. Because everyone works so hard.

But are there celebrities who don’t like sharing the spotlight? They don’t like it when their stylist is as famous as they are, and they pick different stylists who prefer to stay in the background, I presume?

Sometimes, yeah. I think that some still do. Listen, I think some are like, “Please don’t talk about me.” And by the way, I respect that. I mean, I think some people believe, and I do to a large extent, believe that some of this should be private. There needs to be a little bit of mystery left, right?

I would say the other thing that’s changed is the teams. When I was styling, it was impossible for me to have people that I could trust working for me. And maybe that’s because I was too naive. Maybe that’s because I gave them too much. Maybe that’s because I got too close to them. But I feel like my friends that are stylists now have such great support and teams that work with them. Teams that don’t try and steal clients, that don’t try and do all the things of the past. And I think that’s good.

I’ve heard so many horror stories.

Oh, God. A very big part of why I had to stop.

What’s your opinion on what you’re seeing right now? Are there particular stylists that you’re loving, or designers? Who’s inspiring you on the red carpet right now?

I think Nicole Kidman always looks flawless. She has the most wins for me in red carpet history, probably. I don’t even know who her stylist is, but I think, at the end of the day, I think that no matter how great the stylist is, she’s always going to make the call.

You could go all the way back to that Galliano for Dior dress she wore to the Oscars and know that she has her own opinions.

Life changing. And also just the way she wears clothes. I just think she makes really good decisions.

I do love J.Lo for a moment, because I feel like we can always count on her to just do it and never be boring and do the whole makeup and the hair. That makes me happy.

I loved when she moved into her Brunello Cuccinelli moment as well. Her quiet luxury era.

That’s the thing I love about her, truly, that she’s a chameleon. She’ll come out on a Monday with soft makeup in a Brunello look … and then on a Wednesday, a Tamara Ralph look with half her body showing and her face gaudy. I like people that can be willing to change and aren’t scared and love fashion and will do it.

I also love Daisy Edgar-Jones. She reminds me of a Dakota Johnson type. Suki Waterhouse is always fun for me because I’m just Penny Lane at heart.

Listen, Zendaya has really given me life over a lot of moments over the last few years. Because once she was wearing Bob Mackie archives, that made my heart stop.

I do think that that’s an interesting change that’s happened recently, the stylists going back into the archives?

Well, you know how I feel about that. It’s funny, people keep asking me if I’m going to come out and start styling again, right? And my answer is, over the last two years I’ve been visibly upset about things that are not being used on the carpet, that if I were styling, I would pull them off of the couture runways. Literally, if I had to hand-carry them from Paris to L.A. to place them, I would. And I keep saying, why aren’t these being worn? Why are they not?

I know! Especially Daniel Roseberry at Schiaparelli.

I do think we’ll see him at Oscars, though. I do. [Note: At the Oscars, Ariana Grande wore a satin and tulle gown designed by Daniel Roseberry that was inspired by a vintage lamp in the Maison Schiaparelli archive.]

Going back to the red carpet, I think what impresses me is when the stylists dress people who don’t have a size zero body. I mean, Zendaya is going to look fantastic in anything. So I think it’s wonderful when you see people looking great who don’t look like models.

I agree, and I think that’s coming from all sides, by the way. I think the designers, all parts of the industry are embracing body positivity and all types of bodies. And I think that is so incredibly refreshing. Because, you know and I know that in the day of saying, “Okay, well, she’s not a two.” Like, “Well, our samples are a two, so ….”

Thank goodness. And there’s so much more custom design, so many more custom pieces being made.

I do want to talk about that, too, for a second, because there is this part of the industry that people don’t understand. When they say, “Why didn’t they just have this custom made?” Very often the reason there’s so much custom from certain houses consistently, is because they have the financial ability to do that. There’s a cost to these brands that are taking the risk to make something that may or may not happen. It’s a whole gamble in and of itself, which is terrifying.

People ask, “Why is everyone in this brand? Why are six people wearing this brand?” Well, because they have the money and the luxury to be able to not just potentially contract these celebrities and have deals with them, but also to custom make many choices for them.

I remember Carlos de Souza from Valentino telling me that they would make custom dresses, send them over, but that was with no guarantee whatsoever that they would be worn, and no guarantee that they would be returned either.

Me and Carlos would be on the phone at midnight every night: “Is Keira wearing this?” And there was no guarantee. Nothing was contractual, and the cost was phenomenal. The whole thing is so much more complicated than people realize. And again, that goes back to the social media critics going, “Yes, no, yes, no, no, I hate this.” No! The work and the craftsmanship that goes into these looks, and then they’re dismissed in a three-second video. Let’s have a little bit more appreciation, please.

A hundred percent.

Especially for women of a certain size or of a certain age, give them a break. Let’s all just be a little bit kinder.

I couldn’t agree more. I couldn’t agree more.