You probably remember Anya Taylor Joy’s serpent green Golden Globes look. How about Celine Dion’s fashion makeover, or Zendaya’s light-up Cinderella Met Gala dress? You may not have heard of Law Roach yet, but you’ve definitely admired his work before. Like a true fairy godmother, he has always made his clients shine but never was in the spotlight himself — until now. Deemed by The Hollywood Reporter as the “Top Stylist of the Year,” the first Black top stylist too, Law Roach is coming to shine.
Having ruled the Met Ball stylings this year, it’s clear his client list is growing, hungry for his daring and glamorous creations. Of his creations, one of his oldest clients, Zendaya, is the best representation of his touch.
In 2010, he was introduced to Zendaya, then only 13-years-old. From there, they both began to make waves in the fashion world. She became his first major client, and they started working with emerging brands because designers wouldn’t dress her at an early age.
Even as she became more established, he would decline big fashion houses, carefully advising her fashion choices. He tells The Hollywood Reporter that, “she had never worn Valentino until she became the face of Valentino.” Total power move. Zendaya and Law Roach built some of the most iconic fashion moments with smaller brands. One of their viral looks was her stunning custom dress from her film, “Malcolm and Marie.”
The duo uses clothes to reference iconic Black fashion moments. In Essence’s “Black Women in Hollywood Awards” luncheon, Zendaya wore a dress once worn by Eunice Johnson, the Ebony magazine co-founder and Fashion Fair cosmetics founder. Zendaya also wore all Black designers for her InStyle cover, styled by Roach.
Nobody asked us to do this, but [we’re] just taking upon ourselves to make sure that we keep these icons alive and keep talking about them.
Says Law Roach to The Hollywood Reporter
Law Roach grew up in South Side Chicago, and used to own a used vintage boutique before his career as an “image architect.” Although he grew up far away from the world he lives in now, he “never thought, as a young Black man, that [he] couldn’t love style.” In his Instagram post celebrating his achievements, he writes about “the little Black boy who wore couture.”
Now, he makes it his mission to find others who were like him, and to be more involved in finding and cultivating young, new talent — especially talent of color. He acknowledges that there are few top Black stylists recognized. Because Hollywood refers the same people, rather than upcoming stylists, many talented Black stylists never get the opportunity to work with upcoming talent, or those going to big award shows where they’d receive more exposure.
It’s a worthy goal and he is certainly on the way to achieving it, having become a judge on “America’s Next Top Model” and “Legendary” on HBO Max to find new talent.
He dresses everyone from Naomi Osaka, Ariana Grande and Kerry Washington. His client list is always expanding, and it’s no shock as to why. His looks are fearless and glamorous — full of personality and deeper meanings.
“I think the women I dress want to dare for fashion,” he says. Whatever perfect storm he creates, we think we’ll follow him anywhere.
