At an intimate in-conversation discussion, the renowned stylist gives us a preview of his forthcoming book, How to Build a Fashion Icon: Notes on Confidence.
Photo courtesy of @luxurylaw
“Who am I if I’m not him? If I’m not Law Roach, the image architect, the stylist, if I’m not on the carpets and doing 10 people at the Met Gala and Venice and the Grammys and doing all these things, then who am I? That person almost had to die so that the new me can be born.”
Celebrity stylist and self-described “image architect” Law Roach set the internet on fire last year when, after a decade of turning red carpets and street style into groundbreaking, history-making pop culture moments, he took to Instagram to announce his retirement. Then, again, when he slightly retracted the statement, clarifying that he was simply stepping into a new phase of his career — one that yes, still involved working with Zendaya, but offered him more autonomy in who he worked with and when. After hearing him speak with Elle UK’s Editor-in-Chief Kenya Hunt at The Standard London during his book tour, it is clear his wish was simple: to live a well-balanced life with more agency, allowing time to focus on giving back to the next generation.
The recipient of the CFDA’s inaugural Stylist Award, the force behind Zendaya and Anya Taylor-Joy’s theme-dressing and Céline Dion’s style resurgence, and an advocate for small brands and diversity in the industry, Roach has long believed his career to be one of service to others. With this next chapter, he builds upon this legacy as he steps into new creative endeavours — the latest of which is in the world of publishing. “I’m a soul that wants to be in service of people,” he tells Wonderland during the Q&A portion of the event. “When I stopped styling the way I was, I just kept thinking, how can I still be of service to people but in a different way? The book was the first thing for that.”
Out October 7, Roach’s highly-anticipated manifesto, How to Build a Fashion Icon: Notes on Confidence, is part memoir, part self-help book. Sharing his story — from growing up in Chicago and running a vintage store to meeting Zendaya and embarking upon a life-altering styling career — he tells anecdotes and offers advice all for the key aim to let readers in on the secrets that make for magical fashion moments. Spoiler alert: it’s confidence.
And he knows a thing or two about that. “I was born gay and born very feminine and I also have the last name Roach.” He pauses for affect. “And we moved around a lot, so on the first day of school, the teachers would say, ‘get up and introduce yourself to the class,’ and [kids] would start laughing. It was a thunderous amount of laughter. And after doing that so many times, you build up so much confidence. And the laughter in my mind became applause, because I figured out, no one will ever forget me.”
How to Build a Fashion Icon honours that child within him, the one who longed to break into the industry without a clear open door, and serves as one of his various business endeavours with the mission to help emerging creatives. Another one, he divulges, is a digital platform called School of Style. “I actually recently purchased an online, digital platform called School of Style where our goal is to shorten the gap between peoples’ dreams about entering the industry and them actually realising it,” he explains. “I just want to be in service of people, young people who really want to get in the industry, who don’t live in central London or New York or LA. That’s my ultimate way of giving back to the next generation of me.”
