While he first came to reality TV fame for his three seasons on "The Rachel Zoe Project," stylist Brad Goreski has now struck out on his own and has not only started his own business styling celebrities but cameras are also present to catch the ups and downs as he headlines the new Bravo series, "It's a Brad, Brad World." In tonight's premiere episode, viewers will see that Brad's business is off to a slow start and while he tries to jumpstart that side of his life, viewers will also get a window into his home life with partner Gary Janetti and, of course, his dog Penelope. Our Jim Halterman sat down with Goreski recently to talk about shaping the new series, the rift between himself and Zoe as well as what fans can expect to see when they step into his world.
In the beginning of the series, we see you struggling and working out of your garage, which I thought was appealing instead of just seeing you at the top of your game from the start.
Brad Goreski: I think there is a clip going around right now of me saying I was Rachel Zoe's assistant, now what? It was really very much like I wasn't prepared. I don't know if you ever really are. I didn't have any of the pieces in place because I didn't want to do that. When I told Rachel I was leaving, I didn't really want to have a lot of things in place because I wanted to finish out with her and be focused on that job as opposed to taking meetings and doing all this stuff. I really waited until I was finished. I remember waking up the next day having usually just gone to work and start my requests and have fittings, and I was like, "What do I do? I don't know what I do. How do I get clients?' There were so many variables. I didn't have an assistant for such a long time, too. By the time a few months went on, I was really kind of at my wit's end.
You talk about what happened between you and Rachel in the first episode, which I guess you kind of had to since she said in her show that you left and started chasing her clients.
BG: I wanted to address it in the beginning of the show but the show wasn't about that. It was very important to me that it wasn't about whatever drama was happening because I just don't feel like it's important. I feel like people go off and do their own thing. I think having had almost three years with her is different than, say, leaving after I had six months with her. I really did put in my time. It was definitely time for me to move on and I was hoping that she would be able to understand my reasons for going off on my own. We released a press release saying the reasons that I was leaving or what I was going to do so I found it a little strange that... I do feel a little bit [like] I was character assassinated for no reason. I continue to say positive things about Rachel and I always will because my feelings towards her aren't negative.
Having had the experience of doing Rachel's show, were there mandates for your show where you said 'This I want to do or this I don't have any interest in doing?'
BG: We knew that it was going to be about me starting up my business, but I didn't really want there to be any shape. We mapped it around the things that were coming up for me naturally, but I wanted to be very open. I wanted to be very open as well to the audience and allow myself to kind of be exposed in a way, which I am sure maybe will be a little bit hard to deal with once the show has aired because I have cracked myself open in a sense. As somebody who watches reality TV and has had that experience, I was the same way on Rachel's show, that I just wanted it to be very much... I cried so much in this season. [laughs] My tears-per-episode is quite high. There was just a lot going on. I thought after every time I cried, there was a little moment in my head where I am like, "Am I up to like number six? What is going on with me?" It is what was happening at the time. I felt like when we were filming, I thought that it was really fun. There is a lot of fashion in it. There is a lot of my personal life in it. It seems like the feedback I am getting from Twitter and what people are seeing of the teasers and stuff that people are excited.
Is there somebody that you have still yet to work with that you are dying to?
BG: It is funny. I get asked this a lot. For me, I don't really have a bucket list of people. I feel like for me it has been really organic the people who have come in to be my clients. I definitely have a few people that I really like. I love Emma Watson. I love Diane Kruger, all of the big red carpet people, but I am excited about the new people that come my way who are ready to be transformed and have an image made. The process has been very, very organic. I am excited about the people I am working with at the moment.
You and Gary have been together for ten years and he's a television writer. [Janetti has written for 'Will & Grace' and 'Family Guy.'] Do you think the fact that you're both in the entertainment business helps the relationship?
BG: I think so. I think because he understands too. He works with actors and actresses such as I do. Obviously, we work in different ways. He really understands what being involved in the entertainment industry is about and the amount of energy and work that it takes. He is a writer so when he is writing I don't bother him. When I am really in the midst of being on a press tour with somebody or something, he respects that boundary with me as well. It is about our work. It is about what we do, and then when I come home, we reconnect again.
You're all about color in your clothing and in styling celebrities. What is it about a little pop of color that can make such a difference?
BG: People love it. I have people stop me all of the time when I am wearing a lot of color. It would be interesting to watch the show back because I was very into Jil Sander color blocking, crazy over-the-top stuff. I will be interested to see but I am sure I will still be fond of it. There is one outfit I wore that was a royal blue blazer with a raspberry-colored shirt with yellow pants that I wore one day and a bright orange suit and all kinds of crazy stuff. It was really fun.
I noticed the music in your show isn't the same cookie cutter stuff you usually hear in reality shows.
BG: My big thing was I have heard the same music over and over again. was really interested in trying to create a new sound, as well, from the songs I have been influenced by and also just because I am so driven by music that I really wanted the audience to get a fully different experience from what they were watching to what they were hearing and also the way the show is edited... I just wanted it all to seem fresh and new. For somebody who is in the business of style and creating, I thought that it was important that we kind of make a different mark. I think they have done a really good job of doing that. One of the other things we wanted to try to do with this show was to make it visually different, which I think they have done a really good job doing.
"It's a Brad, Brad World" airs every Monday at 10:00/9:00c on Bravo.
