The Rachel Zoe Project: episode recap 1.1 "Fashion Makes the Star Makes the Fashion"

It’s the first juicy episode of The Rachel Zoe Project. As if the preview wasn’t enough to wet our fashion palettes, the show kicks off with the team searching for the perfect dress for Joy Bryant to wear a Vogue event. Get your most superficial face on!

Photo: NBC Media

We’re introduced to the team, Rodger, Taylor and Brad. All three are essential to Rachel running her brand. Marissa is Rachel’s personal assistant and informs her that the reason her Blackberry wasn’t working was because she “had, like, 1000 emails.”

Rachel goes into her studio and Taylor tells her there’s a crazy busy day ahead of them. Brad arrives, and you can already sense the animosity between the two. That morning holds a fitting with Joy Bryant, who, like most of Rachel’s clients, will come to the studio to try on dresses.

Joy arrives and Rachel introduces her to Brad. The two go nuts over each other and Taylor rolls her eyes and sulks in the corner. By this time, we know that this is typical behavior from Taylor, but Rachel accepts it, so I guess poor Brad has to as well.

Joy first tries on a laser chiffon Alberta Ferretti dress, which Rachel nays based on the fact that the chiffon won’t sit properly to be photographed. A black Jean Baptiste dress won’t even zip up Joy’s back, who is super thin btw, so they move on to a draped jersey number that is cute, but too casual for such a fashion forward event. Rachel promises Joy that the day of the event she will have something that will blow them both away.

The next day Taylor and Rachel hit Decades II, the second installment of the vintage heaven, Decades. While perusing for Joy, Rachel picks up a Chanel necklace, a Balmain orange dress that looks plucked straight out of Studio 54 and a dark brown Birkin. Yum!

Rachel and Taylor discuss finding as many dresses as they can to have plenty of options for Joy. Rachel pitches the idea of taking Brad with her to New York. Taylor isn’t sure he’s ready, but Rachel is the boss (doesn’t it feel that she forgets this from time-to-time?).

Brad has picked up on Taylor’s vibe, so he invites her to dinner to talk things over. Taylor is less than sympathetic, but she doesn’t mean it “in a rude way at all.” Give me a break. This girl need a lesson in manners. She isn’t his boss; she’s training him and I’m pretty sure that’s what Rachel expects her to do.

The next day Rachel is leaving for New York, and before that she hangs out with Rodger for a bit. They discuss the idea of branding the Rachel Zoe name (which is the clear motivation for this series), which shakes Rachel’s nerves a bit. She takes off with Brad for New York and the first stop is at Michael Kors’ showroom. Looking for options for Joy, Rachel pours over sketches and talks about branding with Michael, and also mentions that at some point, she needs to squeeze in time to have a baby. Sounds like a priority…

Back in LA, Taylor is trying to get things together for a press junket. She’s bitter about Brad and Rachel being in New York, but also pleased she gets to work by herself, which apparently works better for her.

Rachel is getting ready to go into her meeting with Beanstalk, the international brand consulting firm. Before she goes in, she calls Rodger for a pep talk and he’s nothing but super supportive. Gathered, she goes into the meeting and is welcomed by a team of people. The whole we’re-going-to-define-the-Rachel-Zoe image speech is made and Rachel is eating it up. Why she wants to plaster her name all over everything is beyond me, and I think it will take a lot more than a seven episode series on a cable channel to get the masses to want to buy her brand.

The execs are going nuts with this. Let’s start with sunglasses, then go to fragrance, then home decor…ugh. I have a feeling they’re going to cheapen this idea before it even officially takes off.

Brad is at the studio with Taylor, and she isn’t going to be bothered with his questions. If he needs help, the guy NEEDS help! Help him!

Side note: I’m going nuts for Tay’s Balenciaga Brief (her blue Muse II in the next scene is yum too, but the Bal is to-die-for!), which is lying so gorgeously on the desk at this point.

Rachel gets back to LA and is feeling a “Zac Posen moment.”  As Taylor calls designers, Brad goes behind her and does the same only to be told that they’ve already been notified of what the Zoe camp needs. Taylor comes back to tell him that he should have checked her list, which is somewhere on the messy desk. Taylor bickers that she wants the studio merchandised perfectly, and goes on a signature diatribe to get her point across.

Is it funny to anyone else that they’re both wearing plaid in this scene?

Rachel has a meeting with Piperlime.com to discuss what’s in and what’s out for their customer base. She goes over several shoes with the Piperlime folks, and then has to deal with Brad. She’s worried that Brad already has one foot out the door, and he explains that he’s afraid that Taylor will lash out every time something goes remotely wrong.

That night, Rachel and Rodger go talk to Taylor at dinner. Taylor thinks that Brad has a lot to learn. Rachel explains that she wants to grow the brand, and wants Taylor to be apart of that. In order for that to happen, they need Brad. Rodger offers the advice that she should spend some time training Brad. Whoa, how did that get pass the ever-so-brilliant Taylor?

The next day Taylor and Brad unpack boxes of gowns to have more options for Joy, who will arrive later that evening to be dressed for the Vogue event.

Joy arrives and tries on a white, skintight Valentino, which is nice, but not wow. The next dress up is a red, flamenco-inspired Zac Posen dress that is beyond amazing on Joy’s body.  She takes off for the event, along with Rachel, who is i a black long dress and looks pretty, but nowhere near as glam as she looks on a day-to-day basis.

After the event, she heads home to Rodger and talks about her fear of not making it as a brand. He’s not sure what to tell her, but reassures her that things will work out. Her main concern is taking care of her current clients, while she develops new avenues of her name. It can be done…but I’m betting it’s not an easy road.