No matter where he is in the world, the fashion stylist (or, as he prefers, “image architect”) Law Roach is awake by 7 or 8 a.m. He starts each day by checking
emails and Instagram, an important tool for finding new designers for his celebrity clients to wear. Roach, 43, works with Zendaya, Lewis Hamilton, Hunter Schafer, Halsey, and Venus Williams, among many others. His schedule is so busy he prefers not to look at it, relying on his assistant to keep him where he’s supposed to be—especially at hectic moments like this one, as he prepares for the Oscars and Grammys on back-to-back weekends.
Roach, the oldest of five children, was born and raised in Chicago. He grew up vintage shopping with his grandmother Eloise, amassing a collection of clothing he’d loan and sell to his friends. After graduating from Chicago State University, he opened a store called Deliciously Vintage and began taking on styling clients.
After he met Zendaya, then a teenager, around 2010, she became his first celebrity client. Roach moved to L.A. soon after and became one of the first stylists since Rachel Zoe to be famous in his own right. He was a judge on “America’s Next Top Model” for two seasons, and is now judging the voguing competition show “Legendary”, alongside Megan Thee Stallion, Jameela Jamil, and Leiomy Maldonado.
Here, he speaks to WSJ. about his most recent TikTok obsession and how he and Zendaya have become each other’s family.
Here are Law Roach’s top reveals as he covers WSJ. Magazine…
On breakfast
I don’t eat breakfast.
On coffee or tea:
No caffeine.
On his exercise routine:
[Laughs] Not happening.On maintaining his energy level:
To stay energized, Roach says he naps, made possible by the location of his office (his house): “Naps are so powerful.” Afterward, he’ll usually change clothes, even if it just means putting on a different pair of sweatpants. “I go back out and I’m ready for the next part of the day,” he says.
On his schedule:
At the core of what I do is, I just find clothes. All day, every day, my sisters and I, we’re just searching for clothes. It can start with me waking up, checking emails, then going on Instagram, finding a designer, and falling down a rabbit hole. Maybe last week, I found this really cool designer [Andres Sarda]. I saw something I liked and got the look, had a fitting with Halsey, and she wore it to the iHeartRadio Music Awards. I posted it, and the look went viral. That all started with my everyday process of scrolling. I think what’s beautiful about social media is it’s made the world so small.
On how he manages anxiety during the Oscars and Grammys on back-to-back weekends:
I think the calm part is a skill set that I learned over the years doing this job, but I’m always prepping for some big event. Every day.
On what he was most excited about for the Oscars:
I had a few custom dresses made from different houses for two of my girls, and I’m just excited to finally see the sketch come to life.
On his and Zendaya’s career trajectory and whether they reflect together on that evolution (she was his first celebrity client):
All the time. I think one of the reasons we do that is we have the opportunity to talk about how grateful we are for the way things happened and the way things are happening to us in our careers.
Our relationship really, really grew into more family. We’ve been together for so long. I think she’s watched me grow up, and I’ve watched her grow up and go from a girl to a woman, and it just feels easy and right, like my sister.
On whether they push one another in terms of style:
I don’t know if we’ve pushed each other in terms of style, but really quickly when I started working with her, we really hit the sweet spot where I just was able to look at clothes almost like I am her. And to choose things that make you feel something, that I know when I get the clothes or dress from wherever in the world, when I get it to her and she puts it on, she’ll feel something. And that’s basically all that I look for.
On what he’s inspired by right now:
Just women. Everywhere I go: the market or the airport or in the car, and I’m just looking out the window. I’m just super, super inspired by women.
On his own personal style:
I think my style is lazy, honestly, but chic. I feel the most myself when I just kind of throw things on. I do have an incredible closet, so if I’m throwing it on, it’s probably amazing. I don’t like to feel like I get up and style myself. My day-to-day looks are really easy. It’s a lot of layering, and I like long things. I always have some type of jacket or long sweater or something—even in the summertime, I always have on some type of layering piece. I live in L.A., but I have an incredible coat collection. My security blanket. But yeah, I’m never like a “just go outside with a T-shirt!” type of person.
On how he avoids overscheduling anxiety:
When I look at it, I can be overwhelmed, so I try not to know exactly what my schedule is. I depend on my assistant, Cassie, to handle all the scheduling. If I was really going to sit here and tell you everything I have, like today I have a bunch of business from 6 a.m…. I don’t physically sit down and look at it because that would overwhelm me a lot.
On seeing himself hosting a talk show (he recently stepped into a host role for Grey Goose ahead of the Grammys, interviewing singers like Jojo and Lucky Daye):
[Until] the Grey Goose thing, I’d never had the opportunity to sit down and talk to someone, interview style. And it was really fun. And someone said, “You should have your own talk show!” So I think maybe. I think anything’s possible.On what he’s been reading or watching lately:
I have not been reading, sad to say. I also haven’t been watching too much television, but what I did get a chance to catch is The Tinder Swindler and Inventing Anna, and that led me to a new obsession where I’m watching people do funny videos as them, so that’s been really entertaining. I’m glad I watched it so I have another thing to look at on TikTok or Instagram.
On the one piece of advice he’s gotten that’s guided him:
To be still. When you really understand the meaning and the emotion behind that, I think it is really powerful. Just to be still.
Read the full article here.
Featured image: Courtesy of WSJ. Magazine via Law Roach
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