Lounge
Why Law Roach wants to tell the India fashion story in the right way
Summary
The stylist on life post retirement, where India stands in the global fashion landscape, and putting yourself first
It’s been over two years since Law Roach announced on Instagram his retirement from Hollywood celebrity styling. Shock and speculation had followed. Was the career of the “image architect", as Roach likes to call himself, responsible for transforming A-listers like Céline Dion and Zendaya into red-carpet stars, over? Turned out, it was really a career pivot. Roach is currently busy preparing for the October release of his first book, How to Build a Fashion Icon: Notes on Confidence from the World’s Only Image Architect (Abrams Books)—an attempt, he says, to help people become more confident using fashion as a tool.
Meanwhile, he continues to turn a garment into a moment of fashion history—from Mona Patel’s 2024 Met Gala look and Zendaya’s method dressing for film promotions, to Céline Dion’s recent Olympics’ opening ceremony outfit—and styling personalities for magazine covers (Isha M. Ambani was the latest for Vogue India). He has also worked with Indian designers like Rahul Mishra and Falguni Shane Peacock. “I am the happiest I’ve ever been," Chicago-born Roach, who attended the Ambani wedding in Mumbai in July, says over a video call. “All those questions that were raised after my post, my own second thoughts, whether I had let people, especially my (Black) community, down, shook me. I went through depression. But things are good now."
In an interview with Lounge, Roach talks about the importance of India on the global fashion landscape, and why putting yourself first in a creative field is more important. Edited excerpts:
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What’s the idea behind the book?
One of the things I’ve figured out in my career is that I can help people, whoever they are and whatever situation they are in, feel more confident. The book is a way to help the reader use fashion as a tool to boost or even find their confidence.
The other thing is that, I have had a high-profile career but, at the core, I’m not that image. My professional me and personal me are two different people. So, I wanted to do something that could make me feel more tangible to the rest of the world.
What’s the “personal me" like?
A quiet person who likes to be alone. I didn’t become a stylist because I wanted to be this public figure. I did it because I love being around women. I think it’s such an art form to be a woman, and I just wanted to do something that could keep me close to that art form... just, you know, doing little things to help a woman feel more empowered while entering a room. The fame, the recognition that I have got is a by-product of my work. The Law Roach that you see in front of the camera, that vivacious outspoken person, I have created some of that. It is a part of me, but it’s me at my most confident self.
While helping others, I have also learnt how to feel confident in a room, how not to let clothes wear me but use my wardrobe to tell a story without even opening my mouth.
Did the professional persona ever get to you? Many called your retirement post a publicity stunt.
I don’t think I had the time to really reflect on everything I had done until retirement. In those months (post the announcement), I did go through the process of grieving the loss of that person, that job, that career. It was almost like a part of me had died because so much of who I was, and I am as a person, was dependent on what I was doing. I was Law, the stylist, the image architect, everything was that person, and everything that was happening to me was because of that work. So when I decided to walk away from that work, it was like, “So if you’re not doing that and you’re not that person anymore, then who are you?"
Plus, thoughts like did I fail all those who looked up to me as this person of colour? If I start doing the same work, will I prove people right who said it was all a stunt? I went through depression. But, you know, this is your life and only you get to write your story. It took me time to reach this frame of mind but I did. It’s my life; I have the power to say yes or no to things that I want and don’t to do.
How did you get interested in this career?
That came from my grandmother and watching her get ready for church on Sundays. My grandmother, Eloise, never had any biological kids. She was a foster parent and later adopted children. She always gave so much of herself to everyone, but on Sundays she dressed up for herself. Her routine started on Saturdays. She would go for this long bath and we were told, “Don’t disturb grandma, it’s her quiet time". Then she would do her nails, put hair rollers and figure out the Sunday outfit and find matching jewellery.
Then, on Sunday, she would fix her hair, do her make-up, put on stockings. I just watched that happen every week for years and noticed how those small things turned her into this more confident person. I just fell in love with that. She would ask me to zip her dress up, find her pearls, hand her a matching purse. It made me feel as if I was helping her become that more confident Eloise.
When I started my career, it all just came back, that nostalgic feeling of those Sundays.
You’ve been working with Indian brands for a while now. How important has Indian fashion become in the global landscape?
I had come to Mumbai in April while I was working with Mona Patel (for the Met look, where she wore an Iris van Herpen gown). It was important for her that the embroidery was done in India. So, we visited Marsil (Exports, an embroidery house in Mumbai) and spent two days just learning about the handwork of the artisans. It was an amazing experience for me because prior to that, whenever I saw a couture dress that had embellishments or beadwork, in my mind, I believed it was all done in Paris. That’s what we are led to believe, that’s the popular narrative.
When I was there, I saw the faces and the hands that were doing the work. I heard the stories of how skills were passed down for generations. Later, I saw samples of embroidery work and realised I had seen them on international dresses. It was a revelation; no one tells that part of the story, even today. When we returned, and people were talking about the dress, I was like, “No no no, it wasn’t made in Paris. It was made in India." So now, like others, I am also trying to become a voice to tell an India story in the right way.
How important is a stylist today, when social media is dictating fashion trends?
What’s beautiful about social media is that it has made the world so much smaller. When I started my career, nobody would lend me clothes. So I was almost forced to look outside the big picture and find independent, emerging designers all around the world.
That’s how I discovered Rahul Mishra. I went through this rabbit hole looking at couture shows outside of the French couturiers that we always know about, and found him. And then Zendaya wore Rahul’s long organza shirt (from his 2020 spring-summer collection).
We just kept doing that over and over. And now we do it with vintage clothes and finding these young vintage dealers and buying the clothes from them. It’s also a way to help their business grow; I think everyone deserves a platform.
What’s your styling process?
I always want to figure out who the client is at the time that they’re hiring me and who they want to be, and what that blueprint will look like to help them reach there. So every time I dress someone, it is hopefully an elevated version of them or closest to it, because some people want to be a style star and some just want to feel pretty. Not everybody wants a lot of attention. Some people say, “I want a whole new rebirth." So that’s a different conversation, but the key is to pay attention to what they say and the cues they’re giving to you and who they want to be.
You’ve worked with many celebrities. What have been the learnings?
One of the mistakes I did make is not to enjoy all the experiences that I had. I would be in one place doing one job and I would already be thinking about how to get to the next place for the next job. I’ve been to so many countries so many times and I don’t even have a favourite restaurant. So all that’s changing now.
The most important thing for younger stylists is to understand that styling is not a hobby. It’s a business. You have to go into the work thinking about it, planning and running it as a business, and that means caring for yourself and positioning yourself and the people that work for and with you in the right way. Your clients aren’t your friends. People need to respect you and your work as a business. You need to build your brand—that’s something we don’t think about in the creative field. We get so swayed away by our creativeness, but it’s very important.
What do you do when you’re not working?
I know I sound clichéd, but I take out time to smell the roses. I have a house in Georgia with a lot of nature around me. And I have this huge hawk... you can’t miss it. It’s not my pet. Can you believe it’s been living in my garden for a while now and I never noticed it till after my retirement?
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