In Italy, for most, the figure of the celebrity stylist is still a mystery. But, with the accomplice of Sanremo, for some years now we have been getting used to seeing the name of their stylists alongside the names of stars and artists, people who take care of their look, build their image and, often, decree their success (we had all told in an article on the Festival ).
But in the States the celebrity stylist category has been on the rise for decades and indeed some of them have developed remarkable careers, just think of Rachel Zoe, who went from being a stylist to Hollywood stars to star herself in a reality show all about her on MTV.
Among the coolest names around, however, there is one that stands out over all lately, that of Law Roach and these days the fashion world is talking about him. .. Why? you say, Simple, the "star" of celeb stylists has announced her retirement via social media , or maybe not, yes, no, wait a minute…
Ok now we'll explain what happened and what's going on! But before…
Who is Law Roach?
Born in 1989, an innate talent and a lucky friendship with Kanye West , when the artist hadn't yet passed from one controversy to another, from a fool and a shitstorm on social media, born by chance in a Chicago vintage shop and became the springboard into the world of the fashion system. With characters in his portfolio such as Anya Taylor-Joy and Kerry Washington, Roach's name – and his success – are linked above all to that of Zendaya, in fact, he is the one who has redefined and shaped the actress's style, transforming her, thanks to a skilful work, from Disney Channel star to fashion icon from hundreds of magazine covers and billions of views on social networks.
So much so that the protagonist of Euphoria, style icon of Gen Z, has earned the title of testimonial for brands such as Bulgari and Valentino (not anymore, but we get there!).
Do you remember Tommy Hilfiger's “ Cinderella ” dress worn at the 2019 Met ? Or the tight-fitting Balmain dress worn by the actress on the Venice red carpet in 2021 for the presentation of " Dune "?
Here he was behind these style choices! Indeed, in the first case, Law was on the red carpet of the Metropolitan Museum alongside his "protégé" as, literally, the Fairy Godmother! These are just some of the star's most iconic outfits obviously, but they well represent the work Roach did on Zendaya, showing how essential the stylist's work is to support (and very often enhance and relaunch) the career and talent of a celeb (think of Celine Dion's complete image makeover a few years ago, it was still her work!).
But Roach doesn't stop there: he takes part in successful TV shows such as " Legendary " with Keke Palmer, in 2021 he dresses 10 celebs at the Mets and in 2022 he wins the "Stylist Award for American Fashion"at the CFDA Awards.
All of this until a couple of days ago, when Roach posted a post on his Instagram page announcing his retirement. “ The measure is full! Thank you to everyone who has supported me and my career over the years. To every person who trusted me with their image, I am grateful to you all! If this job was just about clothes, I'd be doing it for the rest of my life but unfortunately it's not! The politics, the lies, the false narratives got the better of me. You have won, I'm out!" these are the few words, plus an outburst, that the stylist has released.
View this post on Instagram
But what's behind this " retirement ", what prompted Roach to abruptly abandon his job as a celeb stylist and, above all, will it really be like this? Yes because the situation, however, is still quite tangled…
Why did Law Roach retire?
Obviously, on social networks the whirlwind of hypotheses started immediately: there are those who suspect that the partnership with Zendaya has come to an end due to the actress's transition from Valentino testimonial to new Louis Vuitton ambassador . The star was in fact present at the French brand's show, in which Roach also took part but "only" in the second row and not alongside her. They say that it annoyed him but probably there could be much more behind her than a whim for the seating …
There are those who say that Roach was the proponent of Zendaya's new "role" and that he had negotiated a percentage on this new contract, a hypothesis denied by other voices who, on the contrary, would see in Zendaya's farewell to Valentino, a reduction of the creative role of Roach to the artist.
Among other things, in fact, he is still very close to the Italian maison directed by Piccioli , it is no coincidence that he is among the stylists involved in the newly launched " Unboxing " project which involves numerous boutiques of the brand around the globe.
At the moment, however, no one is making a statement: designers such as Riccardo Tisci invite him to retrace his steps, Edward Enniful of Vogue UK reassures him that the magazine's doors are always open for him.
There are also many who think that this is not a real goodbye : Roach would have already prepared a plan B, he certainly won't remain with his hands folded!
In fact, less than 36 hours after the announcement, he is back in the spotlight as a model on the BOSS catwalk alongside stars such as Pamela Anderson, Naomi Campbell, Maluma and Dj Khaled. Interviewed shortly after by Vogue.com he said seraphic: « I didn't say that I would retire from the fashion world. I love fashion, work, the creativity behind it. What I'm withdrawing from is the celebrity styling part: being in service and at the service of other people» He then goes on to say: «I live and work in a bubble, where my clients are the priority, more than my own health and happiness. And in my mind, you know, I was going through this withdrawal thing to take some of the pressure off of myself. I was in the car and made a decision. I said to myself, “I've done everything I wanted to in this career. I've gotten awards, I've changed people's lives”… And then I was like, “You've had enough, you know?” So that Instagram post wasn't an advertising initiative. It was just me giving myself the permission to say to myself: “It's ok, you can do something else! "".
View this post on Instagram
In short, Roach will not abandon the field , no retirement in a solitary hermitage in the campaigns for the stylist who will continue his career but in a different way as he himself said in the interview.
Perhaps feuds between celebs and brands have nothing to do with it (or only partially) and the stylist would simply have had enough of the decidedly stressful work dynamics of his, by now, former career.
What the next steps of him will be we do not know now but we will certainly hear more about him – and a lot, that's for sure!
The post The Law Roach affair: who he is and why everyone is talking about him these days… appeared first on Grazia .