>> INSIDER WIRE —The Rachel Zoe Project has turned a lot of former skeptics (and worse) into Rachel Zoe fans — okay, not everyone, but still.  As the show's first season nears a close, where to go?  A second season?  "Nothing’s official, but if Bravo asks, I’d love to. I can take it," Zoe says.  Odd that Bravo hasn't confirmed that second season, considering that the ratings of Zoe's first episode were better than those of Project Runway's first episode, no? [LA Times, The Cut]

>> Rachel Zoe surprised a lot of people with The Rachel Zoe Project preview by coming off more personable than expected — but that's not the only surprise she has up her sleeve. 

The whole show is a stepping stone in expanding her brand, she confirmed via conference call yesterday. "My goal is to create a lifestyle brand.  Something that there's no limit to . . . that will go from belts and sunglasses to jewelry and clothes and fragrance and home."  

The products of that "all-encompassing" brand will reflect her sixties and seventies-influenced personal style, but also be affordable — the stylist is "obsessed with Topshop" and thinks "H&M is great," after all.

"I think anything I do will always have vintage inspiration. I mean, that's what drives me. It's the music I love. It's the clothes I love. It's the accessories I love. It's the icons from that time period I love," Zoe explained. "But I think that my number one goal is to bring a fantasy element to reality and make things affordable for people within any kind of budget."

First up: handbags! »

>> INSIDER WIRE — In the September 2008 Harper's Bazaar, Rachel Zoe throws us for a curve, allowing herself to be retouched from a size 0 to a size 8. Aside from that magazine-selling gimmick, she reveals that she often stays in New York's Mercer Hotel next to Marc Jacobs's suite, so that he can run through their rooms' shared door to inspect her outfits — they're friends, not "'fashion friend[s].'"  [Harper's Bazaar]

»Jennifer Missoni was spotted wearing the Proenza Schouler for Target bustier last night [Chic Report]

»According to Mary-Kate Olsen, she focuses more on Elizabeth and James, while The Row is "Ashley's baby" [PopSugar UK]

»Daisy Lowe has a Maltese puppy named Uncle Monty [The Cut]

»Same-sex model hookup rumors are still swirling [Fashionista]

»A look at the Spring 2009 New York and London fashion week calendars [COACD, London Fashion Week]

»Parties everywhere: Tod's and Gwyneth Paltrow are hosting a party together during Milan Fashion Week; Rachel Zoe is throwing a party to celebrate her reality show premiere during New York Fashion Week [FWD, FWD]

»Vogue Brazil August 2008 features five local models to watch on the cover [Style File]

»Supermodel dance party, circa 1994 [Fashionista]

»Donatella Versace joins the fashion-designers-doing-real-estate trend [CasaSugar]

>> Last night, Bravo aired a preview for The Rachel Zoe Project, and it turns out to be pretty "bananas amazing" — her words, not mine — in a guilty pleasure kind of way. The 21-minute segment features cameo appearances by Zac Posen, Donna Karan, Peter Som, Marc Jacobs, and Oscar de la Renta, not to mention the overload of dresses, shoes, bags, and jewelry panned and pawed across. 

I could do without all the drama between Rachel's two assistants, Taylor and Brad, but the show definitely catches some moments that give you a look at the unstyled stylist: Rachel doing so much credit card damage on designer vintage, AmEx calls with a fraud alert; Rachel dealing with her studio flooding and waterlogging the bottoms of all the one-of-a-kind designer dresses she stocks; Rachel breaking down and crying while her makeup is being done. But she seems to think it's worth it: "At the end of the day, it's a pretty glamorous, fabulous life."  The first full episode airs September 8.
*image: source

Full video preview after the cut. >>

>> Halston may have stripped itself of a head designer and a red carpet consultant recently, but the absence of Marco Zanini and Rachel Zoe won't keep owner Harvey Weinstein and board member Tamara Mellon from showing a Halston collection during New York Fashion Week.

In fact, it sounds like they're pulling out all the stops — the Spring 2009 collection, started by Marco Zanini and reportedly finished by an in-house team, will be presented at the Museum of Modern Art, a venue that can't be cheap to rent out. With five weeks until the presentation, who knows what could happen between now and then: Harvey Weinstein doesn't seem the type to throw in the towel on an investment.
*image: source

>> THE MODELIZER —Not only is Erin Wasson Alexander Wang's runway stylist, she's now rumored to be appearing on a television show called The Stylist.  The MTV show, which is supposed to debut in November, features celebrity stylists auditioning eight assistant stylists on real photo shoots, with the winner getting a contract with Rachel Zoe's old agency.  [Fashion Inc., Fashionista]

*image: source

>> Cathy Horyn brings up a couple of key points today about why Halston didn't work, yet again.

1.  The "too many cooks in the kitchen" theory.

Considering that you've got notoriously strong-personalitied Harvey Weinstein as partial owner of the brand, notoriously strong-personalitied Tamara Mellon on the board, and notoriously strong-personalitied Rachel Zoe, who was until recently a creative and red carpet consultant for the brand, all stirring the Halston pot, I'd say the explosion factor was pretty likely. 

2.  After the initial push, there was little brand visibility in the public eye.

As Cathy points out:

One of the telling things about the Halston situation, even before Marco Zanini’s departure, is that there has been very little publicity or marketed buzz around the label. If the company were completely organized and focused, we would see that—we would see lots of actresses wearing the clothes, we would hear people talking about a Halston bag. Whatever. There’s been a lot of silence since Zanini showed his first collection, back in February. That may have been a calculated decision, but somehow I doubt it, and, anyway, what would be the point in this kind of economic climate?

This lack of red carpet visibility is part of the reason, according to Fashion Week Daily, why Rachel Zoe was let go — because she couldn't connect the dresses with her clients (or anyone else's, for that matter).

Halston has been through countless revivals since Halston's death in 1990, under the creative direction of designers Randolph Duke, Kevan Hall, Craig Natiello, Piyawat Pattanapuckdee, Bradley Bayou, and most recently Marco Zanini. Let's hope the next batter up can bring us a home run.
*image: source

>> The revolving door of designers continues, this time at Halston.  Marco Zanini, who has presented one Fall 2008 collection for the newly revived brand, is no longer working at company headquarters, WWD reports. 

Rachel Zoe's job as advisor for red carpet and celebrity styling to the brand may also be on the rocks, especially considering that Halston by Marco Zanini have made few to no red carpet appearances, not even on Zoe's clients.  Trouble between Zoe and the brand was first heralded when the celebrity stylist failed to appear at the inaugural Halston show in February after sitting front row at Oscar de la Renta an hour earlier.

Marco Zanini is said to have designed the Spring 2009 Halston collection, which will be presented at New York Fashion Week in September.  The company may already be looking for successors, but board member (and Jimmy Choo wunderkind) Tamara Mellon adamantly denied that Georgina Chapman, wife of Halston owner Harvey Weinstein, will be assuming any creative role.

Tough times these days for a designer who gets a less-than-positive review.
*image: source

Despite the recent Rachel Zoe/Anna Wintour fashion feud, Harper's Bazaar has had no qualms in taking in the stray fashionista.  I guess Editor-in-Chief Glenda Bailey wants to cause a little ruckus in the fashion world.  I overheard Ms. Bailey and another editor discussing a shoot styled by, da duh da duh, Ms. Zoe herself.

Will her first editorial styling gig put her up top with the likes of Brana Wolf or confirm that she should stick to dressing Hollywood starlets? My guess is . . . the latter. The issue should be out this Fall.

Sounds like Rachel is doing a throwback to her days at YM — she already styled Gwyneth Paltrow for Bazaar in the July 2008 issue, so maybe a more permanent gig is in the works?

*image: source