- Rachel Zoe hosted a fashion pop-up called the Damn Fancy Styling Station on Thursday.
- There, the style icon told Insider about her early memories of sneaking into NYFW shows.
Rachel Zoe wasn't technically invited to her first New York Fashion Week.
"When I was 22 years old and moved here to become a stylist, I wasn't allowed in fashion shows, but you could get in line and stand," she told Insider at her pop-up styling station hosted by Tanqueray on Thursday.
So that's what Zoe did. She waited in line for a Marc Jacobs runway and got a standing spot in the back of the crowd. But when someone sitting in the second row walked away, Zoe did something she wasn't supposed to — she took their seat.
"It was so surreal," she said. "I was like, 'This is it. I'm going to be doing this for the rest of my life because of the rush, the adrenaline, the excitement — all of it.'"
@insiderlife #RachelZoe gave us tips for how to stay stylish in the winter, especially for #nyfashionweek ! #fashiontiktok #nyfw ♬ original sound - Insider Life
Rachel Zoe's Carrie Bradshaw moment
Starting her career as a styling assistant at a magazine, Zoe wasn't a stranger to the fashion world. But nothing prepared her for the glitz and glamour of attending Fashion Week for the first time in the '90s.
"Do you remember that scene in 'Sex and the City' when Sarah Jessica goes to Paris and she lights up and just spins around? That's really like how I was with fashion," Zoe told Insider about going to shows for the first time.
Her passion was quickly recognized by those around her. Outside the Marc Jacobs show where Zoe stole a seat, she was approached by legendary photographers Patrick McMullan and Bill Cunningham.
"They took a picture of me outside that show and Patrick said to me, 'Who are you?' and I said, 'I don't know. My name's Rachel. I'm just a fashion-obsessed girl.' And he said, 'I feel like this is not the first picture I'm going to take of you.'"
Zoe added: "I didn't really know what he meant and I didn't even care. I was just happy to be there."
New York Fashion Week is totally different today — and so is Zoe
Traditional runways hosted by big-name designers are still prominent in the New York fashion world, but they've evolved. Now, influencers can be spotted next to celebrities in the front row, and the highlights of each day are splashed across TikTok as soon as they happen. Zoe knows this.
"What hasn't changed about Fashion Week?" Zoe told Insider. "The business of fashion — all of it. The internet changed everything in every possible way."
For one thing, you likely won't find people sneaking into runway shows like Zoe did once upon a time.
"Nowadays security is so good, I don't know that you can actually do that anymore," she said with a laugh.
But even those invited to attend aren't summoned in the same ways.
"It occurred to me that there really are no hard invitations anymore," Zoe said. "You know, save paper. People throw them out. I used to collect them because they were like art forms, but now I feel like everything's digital."
And Zoe has grown too. The girl who schemed her way into the second row is now a designer, celebrity stylist, and staple at New York Fashion Week.
In addition to her pop-up styling station, Zoe told Insider that she's also attending a few shows this season, including Rodarte and Carolina Herrera.
While she's not certain what exactly to expect or what this season's trends will be, she is certain about one thing.
"I think at the end of the day, fashion is the freest form of expression," she said. "That hasn't changed."