Rachel Zoe’s clothing empire might soon be in shreds — sources say her line isn’t selling well in stores and her Bravo reality show may also be in trouble.
The pin-thin stylist-turned-designer has become a household name from styling A-list clients including Jennifer Garner, Anne Hathaway and Demi Moore, and through her Bravo reality show, “The Rachel Zoe Project.” Last summer, she launched a clothing line with Chinese retail giant Li & Fung.
But despite the large promotional platform of her Bravo show, we hear the line isn’t doing well at stores including Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom, with industry insiders snipping that interest in the line has “peaked.”
We hear Li & Fung “is panicked” about Zoe’s collection, and there are also rumblings that “The Rachel Zoe Project” may not return to Bravo for a fifth season.
To add insult to injury, sources tell us that Zoe’s assistant, interior designer Jeremiah Brent, is getting his own reality show on the network. Brent, who redecorated Zoe’s Hollywood home on the show, appeared on “Zoe Project” in Season 4, having been fired and rehired by Zoe and her husband, Rodger Berman.
Brent appears to have moved on and started his own business, Jeremiah Brent Design, as shown by photos of his office on Twitter. He would be the third Zoe assistant to get a reality show, including Brad Goreski (“It’s a Brad Brad World”) and Taylor Jacobson, who appears in Oxygen Network’s upcoming “Hollywood Unzipped: Stylist Wars.”
A rep for Zoe, who will show at Lincoln Center during New York Fashion Week, didn’t comment. But Alan Chartash, the chief strategy officer for Li & Fung USA, said: “We’re very happy. Apparel launched a year or so, and since that time, we’ve launched footwear, handbags and we’re launching a line of jewelry exclusively with Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman. We’re supportive of Rachel and the continuation of the brand. Like any clothing line, it ebbs and flows, but we’re very happy with the apparel sales.”