"It was this thing I said I'd never do," says celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe of taking a stilettoed-step from behind the scenes to open her life up to the cameras for her reality show, The Rachel Zoe Project. "But everything's just lined up, and my mission is to educate people about the process of styling, because there's so much confusion about what we do in this business."

What she does is earn a reported $13,600 a day dressing A-list stars - think Kate Hudson, Eva Mendes and Demi Moore - for photo shoots, awards seasons and even the ritualistic Starbucks runs, in between vintage shopping (coveted Hermes Birkin bags are her idea of collectable art) and sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of US Vogue editor Anna Wintour at Paris Couture week.

But New York-born Zoe (nee Rachel Zoe Rosenzweig) - best known for transforming Nicole Richie from Paris Hilton's sidekick into an enviable fashion plate - is a reluctant celebrity. "I'm never going to think of myself as that," she says. "I'm someone who has a behind-the-scenes job and I was initially pulled to the forefront involuntarily."

She is, of course, referring to a time when she battled speculation that clients such as Richie and Lindsay Lohan were shedding kilos under her tutelage, with the Los Angeles Times going so far as to accuse the petite stylist of "single-handedly bringing anorexia back."

Attributing her frame to her "extremely high-stress life," Zoe has said she would never tell someone to lose weight, and laughs at the term "Zoe-Bots," another reference to the skinny clients who adopted her signature style - bronzed, sexy, laid-back vintage glamour complete with tousled hair, oversized sunglasses and layered accessories.

"God, I know that it is not true," she says. "You're never going to see Cameron Diaz walking around in a kaftan with huge sunglasses and long, wavy hair, you know?"

For all her success, this fashion Svengali concedes to a "laundry list" of insecurities. "I'm built like a boy, I'm 36 wishing I was 26 again, and I'm short," says Zoe. "That's why I wear 7-inch platforms every day." In fact, the only time you'll see Zoe in a pair of thongs is when she's running to get a pedicure - a rare event as Zoe prepares to add "designer" to her expanding repertoire. Her aim? "I want to create a lifestyle for people that will make their fantasies a reality."

As for her own fantasies, "I love my job, but ultimately: I'd love to be on a beach in the south of France with my husband [investment banker Rodger Berman], in a kaftan, wearing tons of gold jewellery and just enjoying my life."

Photo: Rachel Zoe with Kate Hudson, Getty