Law Roach retires

Fashion icon leaves the industry behind, but not his legacy

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Willow Bowen, Editor

Today’s fashion industry is a dying one, there’s very low expectations left, except when it comes to the looks that award-winning fashion stylist icon Law Roach produces. Roach is best known for his work with celebrity Zendaya, but has impacted red carpets all over the world and through the years. 

On March 14, Roach made an Instagram post that read “Retired” on the photo. In his caption, he expresses “My Cup is empty…..thank you to everyone who’ve supported me and my career over the years. Every person that trusted me with their image, I’m so grateful for you all. If this business was just about clothes I would do it for the rest of my life, but unfortunately it’s not! The politics, the lies and false narratives finally got me! You win… I’m out. 

Roach has impacted the way the fashion industry works forever. Fast fashion and ambassador brand deals have officially made fashion something that isn’t desired anymore. When Roach had clients he would not just dress them, he would transform them. He would do this as ways of thinking how he could get these stars’ attention from not only other industries but from the public eye. Since Zendaya was only 14, Roach has been styling her on red carpets, fashion shows, and photo shoots. 

Zendaya is the fashion icon she is today because Roach would strategically dress her in outfits other celebrities had worn. This would cause her to end up in magazines and who wore it better, and she always wore it better. 

Recently, a podcast interview with thecut.com came out, with a more in depth explanation breaking down why he made this decision. In this interview he explains how there is so much pressure on the person who is behind the scenes. In one statement Raoch said, “’Well, you could just do Zendaya and be successful,’ but for me, that wasn’t enough. And then, I also had that burden of showing people like I’m not a one-trick pony.’”

In this interview we find out that his love of fashion came from thrifting as a young child. Roach would mostly scrape by, the oldest of five siblings, returning shopping carts for the quarter deposits so he could have enough to eat. Fending for himself as his mother was absent from alcohol and drug addiction. 

Roach felt like the care he was putting into his clients should have been taken into better consideration because he gives so much love in his work. Hopefully Roach can find happiness after his new road of retirement. The fashion industry will never forget the work he did especially for clients like Ariana Grande, Celine Dion, Anya Taylor-Joy, Hunter Schafer, Anne Hathaway, Kerry Washington, and last but not least Zendaya.