March of the Zoe-bots: The celebrity stylists on $10,000 per day
By Caroline Graham and Peter Sheridan
Last updated at 10:00 PM on 23rd July 2011
At first glance it appeared to be a typical Hollywood party in the grounds of a grand Beverly Hills mansion.
Standing by the sun-dappled pool, Demi Moore nursed a Diet Coke as she discussed motherhood with Goldie Hawn's actress daughter Kate Hudson.
On the patio, Lionel Richie's daughter Nicole and her rock-star husband Joel Madden were deep in conversation with the party's host, Rachel Zoe, one of the most powerful women in Los Angeles.
Post-bot to pre-bot: Cheryl Cole's garish look at the X Factor auditions, looks more elegant in Stephane Rolland less than a week later
Rising slowly from her seat, Zoe thanked the assembled crowd for attending the baby shower for her unborn son.
Taking the first package from a huge pile of gifts, a classic turquoise box from Tiffany on Rodeo Drive, a sweet smile of satisfaction crossed her lips as she pulled out a solid gold rattle, a gift from a major studio.
It is the sort of present a studio would normally send to an A-list star. You might never have heard of Rachel Zoe.
But Zoe (it rhymes with faux) is a woman who has built up a £25 million fashion and television empire and is supported by a small army of staff including publicists, her own agent and a manager.
Bright and beautiful: Charlie Anderson dressed Princess Beatrice in Roland Mouret, left, for the Royal Flower Show after she was criticised for her 'pretzel' at the Royal Wedding
She was even in attendance when the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were in Los Angeles earlier this month and her thoughts on the Duchess were widely reported.
'She was beyond fabulous,' said Zoe. 'I can't criticise the way she looks in any way. She is a true princess.'
Putting on the glitz: Stylists such as Rachel Zoe dress Hollywood's top set
What supermodels were to fashion and glamour in the Eighties, Hollywood stylists are to the current decade.
Charging an average of $10,000 a day – around £6,000 – they are feted by studios and stars, often seen as the key factor in ensuring that a film or television show is a hit and that a red-carpet event makes the headlines.
As one executive from a major studio says: 'This is an image business and the better the talent looks, the better publicity a movie is likely to get.
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Publicist Amanda Lundberg has worked on campaigns for films including Chicago, Cold Mountain, The Aviator, Kill Bill and Sex, Lies And Videotape.
She says stylists have become like supermodel Linda Evangelista, who once famously quipped: 'We don't wake up for less than $10,000 a day.'
Power players: Even style queen Sarah Jessica Parker is known to use a stylist
Lundberg says: 'Many are very creative. Some are lovely people. But a lot of them are completely gouging us. It's not like they're shovelling coal all day.
'There are hours on end that they're sitting around reading magazines and drinking cappuccino. But they get what they want because they have us over a barrel.'
Indeed, there are no qualifications required, no exams and no regulatory body.
Groomed: Lindsay Lohan and Kate Hudson are known to treat their stylists like royalty
It's a free-for-all where anyone can claim to be a personal stylist – and they do.
While some, such as Britain's Nikki Pennie, who has styled Kate Middleton and Cat Deeley, have trained in fashion, most have nothing more than a keen eye for style and have become stylists by working for a friend.
Yet at the top of their game, stylists can hold stars to ransom, because only a handful of the best can persuade the top designers to relinquish their latest gown, which can put a celebrity's image on the covers of magazines and websites across the globe. Indeed, failing to employ the right stylist – or finding your stylist has an off-day – is to court disaster.
Styled: In full length gowns Cheryl Cole exudes glamour
Take Cheryl Cole. When she arrived for her first day's filming on her ill-fated stint on the American X Factor in May, she had her hair teased into a weird bouffant-style and wore garish purple flares.
What would be just a bad hair day in Britain was immediately seized on in LA, as a Fox studio source explains: 'Cheryl appeared flatters them. Stylists do the legwork for the stars, spending hours hunting down the right clothes to deliver a co-ordinated look for the star.
The best stylists not only have access to the top designers but can also obtain new designs before they are seen elsewhere.
Leading operators, such as Rachel Zoe, can influence street fashion and ensure a celebrity graces the pages of the influential People, InStyle and US Weekly – magazines closely scrutinised by major retailers.
Zoe, 39, is credited with creating the 'boho chic' look of clients including Nicole Richie, Keira Knightley, Lindsay Lohan, Kate Hudson and Kate Beckinsale.
Followers of Zoe's style – big hair, big sunglasses, skeletal frame, hippy-chic clothing – even have their own nickname: they are the 'Zoe-bots'.
Another celebrity stylist in the 'Zoe-bot' revolution is Charlie Anderson, a former style editor on Tatler magazine.
Charlie was hired by Princess Beatrice after her fashion faux pas at the Royal Wedding in April, when the Princess famously wore a beige hat dubbed 'the pretzel' by critics.
Charlie styled her in Roland Mouret for Elton John's White Tie & Tiara ball and a visit to the Chelsea Flower Show.
Mick Jagger's girlfriend L'Wren Scott started out as a stylist and transformed her access to celebrities into a successful fashion designing career. She met Mick when she was styling a shoot.
She continues with the job, 'but only for fun these days, I only work with friends' – such as Sharon Stone, Nicole Kidman and Sarah Jessica Parker.
Top names: Gwen Stefani and Angelina Jolie use the top set of stylists in Hollywood
The names of other top stylists mean nothing to those outside Hollywood circles – Andrea Lieberman (Gwen Stefani ) , Jennifer Rade (Angelina Jolie), Kate Young (Natalie Portman, Alicia Keys), Christina Ehrlich (Penelope Cruz, Amy Adams), Jeanne Yang (Katie Holmes, Tom Cruise, Christian Bale), Leslie Fremar (Charlize Theron, Reese Witherspoon) – but it is no exaggeration to say that in LA they are power players.
A publicist who worked on the last Pirates Of The Caribbean film complains: 'It's galling when you get on the plane and have to trudge past them to go back to coach [economy class].
'You start to wonder why you went to university. I should have gone to the Cleveland School of Primping and Shopping.
'Sometimes the stylists are harder to deal with than the talent. They want first-class air fares, five-star hotels, limos and daily expenses.
'I had one stylist ask if the studio would pay for a dog-sitter while she worked with the client.'
Stylists now demand first class treatment as stars such as Charlize Theron rely on them
That said, the days of red carpet disasters are largely over. Who could forget such highlights from the past as Cher's see-through gauze and sequins, or Bjork laying an egg in a swan dress?
Celebrities are so close to their stylists that when Madonna adopted baby David Banda from Malawi, she said her stylist Shavawn Gordon was prepared to act as the child's 'second mother' should Madonna ever become incapacitated.
Amy Astley, editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue, defends the stylists: 'They are critical to the fashion industry and people like Rachel Zoe are incredibly important.
'She has kickstarted many of the trends you see today. She, and others like her, have opened up the fashion industry so it's not just for insiders.
'Now everyone knows about labels because they read about stars wearing them.'
When Madonna adopted son David Banda from Malawi, she said her stylist Shavawn Gordon was prepared to act as the child's 'second mother' should she ever become incapacitated
Sometimes it seems that Zoe has got her hands on the holy grail of the styling trade.
Despite recently giving birth, she continues to film a TV show, The Rachel Zoe Project, which is screened on cable network Bravo, has just launched a Rachel Zoe Luxe line of clothes and accessories on the QVC shopping channel, and her company, Rachel Zoe Inc, employs 14 people full-time.
Roger Berman, her husband of 13 years, laughs: 'Then there are her intellectual-property attorneys, labour attorneys, corporate attorneys, transactional attorneys, business managers, agents and a PR rep.
'Let's just say that the company is far exceeding our expectations.'
Philip Bloch, the stylist of choice for women including Jennifer Lopez and Salma Hayek, says: 'To be good in this business, to demand the $10,000, you have to love what you do.
'You have to love the celebrities, the glamour and the myth of Hollywood. I was talking to Sandy the other day about how the celebrity stylist thing has gone crazy.'
Sandy, if you didn't already know, is actress Sandra Bullock. 'Stylists have the power. We are a direct link to the celebrity and we can tell the studios how to handle that celebrity.
'We're the new power-brokers and when a studio is paying $100 million for a movie, what's 10,000 bucks a day to keep the star happy?'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2018032/March-Zoe-bots-Celebrity-stylist-Rachel-Zoe-10-000-day.html#ixzz1SyS4Ndso
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