He’s the stylist to the likes of celebs Zendaya and Anya Taylor Joy and these days, the fashion world is all the buzz about him and his mysterious (or maybe not) “retirement”. Here because…
In Italy, for the most part, the figure of celebrity stylists it’s still a mystery. But, thanks to 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 told you everything in an article about the Festival).
But in the States the category of celebrity stylists has been on the rise for decades and indeed some of them have developed remarkable careers, just think of rachel zoe, who went from styling Hollywood stars to starring in her own MTV reality show.
Among the coolest names around, however, there is one that stands out over all lately, that of Law Roach and these days iThe fashion world talks about him all the time... Why? you will say, Simple, the “star” of celeb stylists announced her retirement via social mediaor maybe not, yes, no, wait a minute…
Ok now let’s 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 Westwhen the artist still did not pass from one polemic to another, from a fool and a shitstorm on social media, born by chance in a vintage shop in Chicago and which has become the springboard into the world of the fashion system. With personalities in the 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 redefined and shaped the actress’s style, transforming her, thanks to a skilful work, from a Disney Channel star a fashion icon from hundreds of magazine covers and billions of views on social media.
So much so that the protagonist of Euphoriastyle 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 thesuit “Cinderellaby Tommy Hilfiger worn to Mid 2019? Or the bodycon dress of Balmain sported by the actress on Venice red carpet in 2021 for the presentation of “Dunes“?
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 dresses ben 10 celebs at the Mets and in 2022 he won the “Stylist Award for American Fashion” at the CFDA Awards.
All this until a couple of days ago when Roach publishes 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 win, I’m out!” these are the few words, plus an outburst, that the stylist has released.
But what is behind this “withdraw“, what prompted Roach to suddenly 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 under her there could be much more 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 Zendaya’s farewell to Valentino as a reduction of the creative role of Roach to the artist.
By the way, in fact, it is still very attached to the Italian maison directed by Piccioliit is no coincidence that he is among the stylists involved in the newly launched project “Unboxing” 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 he would already have a plan B ready, he certainly won’t sit idly by!
In fact, less than 36 hours after the announcement, he is back in the spotlight as a model on the catwalk of BOSS alongside stars such as Pamela Anderson, Naomi Campbell, Maluma and Dj Khaled. Interviewed shortly after by Vogue.com Seraphic said: «I have not said that I will retire from the fashion world. I love fashion, work, the creativity behind it. What I’m retiring 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 was like, ‘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!“”.
In short, Roach will not abandon the fieldno 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.
Maybe feuds between celebs and brands have nothing to do with it (or only partially) and lo stylist would simply have had enough of the working dynamics decidedly stressful of his now former career.
What his next steps will be we don’t know now but we will certainly hear more about him – and a lot, that’s for sure!