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Style tycoon Law Roach has alleged that brands weren’t willing to lend Zendaya clothing at the start of her career.
In conversation with Vogue, following the conclusion of theDune: Part Two press tour, the 45-year-old celebrity stylist spoke about how he and Zendaya’s love for plucking vintage red carpet pieces came to be.
“We’ve been [pulling vintage] since Zendaya and I began working together, for 13 years now. At first, it came out of necessity because back when we started, nobody would lend her clothes,” he proclaimed. “And I come from vintage – I had a vintage store in Chicago – so a lot of the things that she wore were things from my store or vintage pieces.”
Despite Roach’s public declaration of retirement from celebrity styling, he’s continued to work with the Euphoria star. The pair have collaborated since Zendaya was a teenager – Roach being the only stylist she’s ever worked with.
Speaking to Interview Magazine’s Mel Ottenberg not long after he announced his leave, Roach confessed he wasn’t going to stop working with the Challengers actress.
“How can I just pick up and leave somebody when I’m the only stylist they’ve ever had? She’s literally the one client where I’m like: ‘That is my family,’ he remarked. “And I know what I mean to her because she tells me all the time. So I am trying to figure out how to change my position.”
Over the last few months, Roach and Zendaya have produced supreme ensembles for each red carpet Dune: Part Two premiere. Between a Thierry Mugler 1995 robot suit and a 1999 long-sleeve motherboard dress by Alexander McQueen for Givenchy, the two alternated between archive designer and recent runway to present looks emblematic of the film’s dystopian fixture.
Though Roach can appreciate the fresh factor that comes with custom-made pieces, to him, sourcing vintage looks is a mode of sustainability in fashion.
“If we’re really going to have conversations about sustainability, wearing something that somebody else has is kind of the easiest way to do it,” he noted. “Beautiful clothes should live the longest lives possible, and as many lives as possible. They shouldn’t just lay dormant somewhere.”
That said, oftentimes, one-of-a-kind pre-worn designs won’t fit two people the same. In this case, alterations need to be made. And in order to preserve the natural body of the piece, only small, intentional changes can be made.
Roach said: “I would never destroy a Lee McQueen! But we are able to alter things a little bit because we buy it. We don’t borrow from vintage dealers – we buy. It’s important to support smaller businesses.”
