Rachel Zoe, 54, ended her career as a celebrity stylist to some of Hollywood’s biggest stars over a decade ago, and now she’s revealed what made her shut the door on what was once her professional calling.
“In full disclosure, I just couldn’t trust assistants,” Zoe told People. “The definition of insanity is when you do the same thing over and over and expect a different outcome.”
The fashion icon explained how losing her trust in her team wasn’t worth ruining her reputation. “I think after being completely betrayed, for lack of a better term, in various ways by enough assistants and not being able to trust them with my clients and stuff to represent what I do and how I am with my clients, it just wasn’t worth it anymore,” she said.
Rachel Zoe Says She ‘Never’ Wanted to Disappoint Her Celebrity Clients
GettyNot only did Zoe style stars like Kate Hudson, Lindsay Lohan, Anne Hathaway, Salma Hayek and many more, but she also starred in the hit Bravo show “The Rachel Zoe Project.” The series aired from 2008 until 2013 before it went off the air.
While she abruptly ended her styling career around that same time, Zoe’s pride in her work was evident, telling People that her celebrity clients were her “extended family,” adding that “there was no margin for error” when it came to her brand.
Zoe continued, “I never wanted to let them down, ever. But if I have five clients going through an award season, I physically cannot be with all five at the same time. You have to be able to entrust that in people that represent your work, and if you can’t do that, the system is broken.”
Rachel Zoe Explains How Her Busy Schedule Was Too ‘Unpredictable’
GettyWhile it was her team of assistants who led her astray from her famed career, at the time Zoe had a growing family at home, whom she refocused her energy on instead. The former celebrity stylist, who shares sons Skyler, 14, and Kaius, 12, with her ex-husband, Rodger Berman, explained how her busy work schedule made her unable to be the mom she truly wanted to be.
“It was hard to give styling my undivided attention and to get up and jump on a plane every other day, which is really what that life is,” Zoe said. “It’s incessant and unpredictable traveling, with fittings at 2 a.m. You are working for other people, and you are on other people’s schedules, and that’s very hard to do when you have multiple businesses, and you are the CEO, and you have a newborn and a toddler.”
In the end, Zoe closeted her celebrity styling career and shifted to building her personal empire, saying that being “100% everything to everyone in every area of your life and your business” wasn’t worth the stress, especially when those she trusted most had crossed her one too many times.
