“We’re elevating everything,” said Rachel Zoe. Her resort collection reflected the Seventies bohemian glamour that is Zoe’s famous signature, both in terms of her personal style and her styled clients. It was not necessarily new in that respect, but the fabrics, tailoring and overall execution were at a higher level than ever before. With good reason: With her resort collection, Zoe ended her four-year license with Li & Fung.
Now operating independently, Zoe is, as she said “driving on my own,” and the clothes appear to be the better for it. The focus was on specialty items — a burgundy fringe suede jacket, multicolored furs done with Saga, a metallic fringe jacket, silk and jacquard tuxedo jackets and pants styled with tie-neck blouses — within the realm of hippie glam rock that Zoe knows well and which is certainly emanating out of the L.A. design community. “It’s not the basics, it’s the novelty pieces people respond to,” said Zoe. “[The customer] wants me to tell her how to dress up.” It made a lot of sense.