Free Spirit

Bravotv.com: You take a detour and meet Kate Hudson in London.

Rachel: I think Kate is very free spirited and one of the coolest girls I've ever known. I think whenever I'm around Kate, I tend to step outside my comfort zone and I always want to do what she wants me to do. I feel like I'm always a little more adventurous when I'm with her, because I kinda feel like a loser for not being so adventurous. I start to feel really stupid! I wonder why I'm so uptight, why can't I do something unexpected? Not be so set in my ways. That's always fun. She's just like this effortless, free-spirited, cool girl who laughs and smiles her way through life and I love that about her.

Rodger is a lot more vocal this year about being over the dress drama. He wants to spend more time with you, and you get in an argument with him over finding the perfect dress, and he's over it.

I think Rodger, after a while, will say, "I mean, seriously babe? I can't." He just can't watch me get pissed off. He finds it very hard to believe that it's the only dress there is. That's really what it comes down to. It's not the only dress, but in that moment, it seems like that's the only dress. It's the one I want. Whenever it's the one I want, I'm not good at taking no for an answer. When that happens, you have relationships with these designers and you do so much for them time and time again, that you're just wondering why is this happening? I'm promised a dress by a designer and I'm not getting it.

So the dress that ended up on Sandra Bullock, you had to let that go.

It was really tough. Sandra was a nominee. Everyone kind of knew she was going to win. I think the only fault there on the designer's part is to be honest with me. Say to me look, Sandra's nominated. As my friend tell the truth, because as their friend, I'm going to understand that. That's what it comes down to. I expect honesty. It all worked out in the end though. My clients were so happy with their choices that it didn't even matter. They liked their dresses so much better. So it was fine!

How was meeting with Donatella?

Donatella is the best. She's the best. We've worked together for many years. She's one of the queens of the red carpet. She's incredible. She always comes through for me. I think we have this great relationship and I always love seeing her when I'm in Milan.

Brad meets you in Milan to go vintage shopping. Has the fact that your collection is vintage-inspired made your shopping habits worse?

No, because now I can justify it! I can totally justify spending more. It's funny, for as much as Rodger's made fun of me over the years for spending all this money, when it came to designing my first collection, we didn't even need to shop. It was awesome.