She's dressed everyone from Anne Hathaway to Kate Hudson, but there's one star Rachel Zoe won't add to her client list: Jersey Shore's Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi.
"I don't have time," the pregnant stylist tells The Hollywood Reporter, adding that she's never seen an episode of Jersey Shore. "No really, because she's so out there right now, that's like a full-time job. It's nothing against Snooki."
Not that Zoe needs to add any more high-profile clients to her roster — she currently works with Cameron Diaz, Eva Mendes and Demi Moore (among others), in addition to designing her own line for QVC and filming her own Bravo reality series.
Zoe, 39 — who makes $50,000 an episode and earns as much as $10,000 per styling job — wasn't always so successful. After her first job as a fashion assistant at the now-defunct YM magazine (where she made $18,000 annually), Zoe went freelance at 25 years old. She then began styling for the likes of Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys from her one-bedroom apartment in NYC's West Village.
"I worked 20-something hours a day, seven days a week," Zoe recalls. "I was completely obsessed with fashion and spent all my money flying to Paris to go to couture because that was the dream. I crashed shows, stood in line for Marc Jacobs. Designers were my heroes and my celebrities. It hasn't really worn off."
In fact, up until recently, her husband Rodger Berman admits that money was a constant worry for his ever-stylish wife. "Last year was the first time when I felt like, 'OK, we're not gonna go bankrupt," he tells THR. "But, 'Mo' money, mo' problems.' To my wife, it just means she can spend more."
Money wasn't the only factor that motivated Zoe to step into the spotlight. "One of the main reasons we decided to do the show was because she had such negative press," Berman says. "It was almost like, 'Well, we should probably just show how you really are.'"
Zoe, for her part, was wary about becoming a public figure. "A stylist is a behind-the-scenes job," she explains. "I'm never a star when I'm with a star. Back then, I was very insecure about that. Even now, if you watch me on a red carpet, I'm physically uncomfortable. I can't strike a good pose to save my life. Fortunately and unfortunately, it's a part of brand-building. It's just part of my job."
Due to her pregnancy, the fashionista (born Rachel Zoe Rosenzweig) was forced to take a break from her typically hectic travel schedule. She skipped the fashion shows in Paris and Milan this year, instead choosing to stay home and watch Twilight in bed.
"I can say in all honesty that being pregnant, working with the kind of people I work with and being this businesswoman has been a really wonderful, drama-free time in my life," Zoe says.
As for her future, "I have this visual of me and Rodg living in this amazing house that's not too big in the south of France, where we go for four months and just sit on the beach and make jewelry. Not to sell, just for fun and therapy. Like literally, take rocks and shells and glue them."
