It’s the last day of London Fashion Week, and there’s a lot going on. But not in The Standard. Things are moving in slow-motion at the cult King’s Cross hotel. The retro, ‘70s interiors put you in a mellow time-capsule that looks down to one of the busiest streets in London. That’s where we’re catching up with the stylist behind the most insane pulls, self-proclaimed “image architect” Law Roach, whose soft voice and energy mirror the chill vibe of the hotel.
“When I first started styling, before I even moved to New York, I always wanted to stay at The Standard,” he says. “I would never forget the iconic episodes of Sex and the City when they were at The Standard and there was a person behind a big fish tank, almost naked. I kept saying, when I go to LA, I want to go to The Standard. The Standard has actually been in my life for such a long time.” He adds: “There’s always something new and innovative in London, and that’s what brings me back to LFW, I’m always paying attention to what’s going on here.”
The man behind the most iconic fits of the past decade – his long-time work with Zendaya is the prime example of what he can do – is in London for the launch of his first book How To Build An Icon. We got chatting with him on his relationship with Z, how exactly he builds an icon, and boundaries.
“We’re just perfect collaborators,” he says about Zendaya, who he’s been working with for more than a decade, back when Z was still at Disney. “It’s all symbiotic because we’ve been working together for so long. I know what to bring her, I know what she likes. And she’s also so involved in the process.”
The duo are known for pulling the best runway, custom and archive pieces in the game – the Joan of Arc-inspired custom Versace for the 2018 Met Gala, the Galliano moments in this year’s Met, and the out-of-this-world Mugler FW95 robot suit for the London premiere of Dune II last year – they never miss. “It took the most preparation and we all had so much anxiety around it,” he says on the Mugler look. “She had to fit it, we couldn’t alter it. The measurements from the wrist to the elbow, the elbow to the shoulder, they had to be exact. The shoes had to fit, then the shin, and then the thigh. Every piece she put on we had to hold our breath. And everything just fit, it was divine. Every person in the room was so emotional because had a piece been one centimetre off, it wouldn’t have worked – and the world wouldn’t be able to see it.”
Zendaya was actually one of Law’s first clients; they began working together in 2011. He started out as an outsider in the styling world, running a vintage store in his hometown Chicago – “it was called Deliciously Vintage,” he says with a smile. The shop got a lot of hype when Kanye West happened to drop by back in 2009 to pick up a pair of sunglasses for his then-girlfriend, Amber Rose. “He bought a pair of MCM shades,” Roach told the New Yorker. “We were so geekin’ out, like ‘Amber got on my glasses!’’
The best piece he ever sold? “We had an Hermès scarf that was commissioned for one of the museums in Chicago,” Roach says. “It was this full circle moment that was this beautiful, exclusive piece from Hermès with a snapshot history of Chicago.”
His vintage store background shows how he’s so tapped into fashion history, knows what archival pieces to source and knows exactly how to make a reference with his ‘method styling’. “It was a natural transition,” he says of his career change.
But it got to a point where it was all too much. Last year the stylist announced on his IG that he is stepping back from the industry: “If this business was just about the clothes I would do it for the rest of my life, but unfortunately it’s not!” he wrote. “The politics, the lies and false narratives finally got me! You win… I’m out.”
He explains: “I don’t think people understood, because they’d see Zendaya as a main client but what they didn’t see is that I was dressing 11 of the biggest stars in the world across music, film, sports.” His A-list clientele included Lewis Hamilton, Hunter Schafer and Venus Williams, among many others.
“People didn’t see how much I was working. When I ‘retired’, my goal was for no one to ever see me again, but Zendaya wouldn’t allow that. Then I started to realise that I have the power to say yes to the things that deserve a yes and feel ok with saying no.”
Roach is a passionate fashion fan, like us, and on top of his mental rolodex of archive runways, he just knows how to make his clients look and feel confident. “You pay attention to people,” he says. “You pay attention to the non-verbal cues, you pay attention to the things that they put on and automatically feel good, beautiful, and powerful.”
He adds: “I think that my entire career I’ve focused on how to make my clients feel better rather than make them look better, and that feeling is down to confidence. I wanted to share that with anybody and everybody who’s ever followed my career or ever liked one of my posts. [With this book] I wanted to give something tangible and affordable that they can treasure and learn from.”
And the book does just that. “It’s how to really become your own fashion icon. It’s about confidence, and gaining that real, authentic, meaningful confidence to really become your own icon, fashion or otherwise.
“A fashion icon to me is someone who doesn’t give a fuck about themselves or what they wear, and that all comes from being confident, knowing who you are, loving yourself, and knowing that some days are going to be more challenging than others, but digging deep inside and using your confidence to pull you through.”
When asked what he wants to do next, Law sighs. “I just want to continue to be of service to other people,” he says. “Especially people who look like me, I want to make their journeys a little bit easier, sweep away the rubbish and pave that path.”
“I have a mantra, the universe protects and provides. We all have the power to manifest and create our perfect world and so that’s what keeps me happy, and grounded, and confident. I have the self-assurance that everything will work out the way that it’s supposed to.”
As for advice for any young’uns trying to break into the industry? Dream, learn, work, he says.
How To Build An Icon comes out October 2nd.
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