Law Roach reveals luxury brands said ‘no’ to Zendaya

Spilling tea in an appearance on fashion industry favourite podcast The Cutting Room Floor, Hollywood super-stylist Law Roach has revealed which luxury labels refused to dress Zendaya.

Zendaya is in the spotlight this year, with the release of Dune and Challengers, as well as high-profile gig co-hosting the Met Gala last week. She wore not one but two looks to the event, and another to the afterparty, and Zendaya’s wardrobe choices have been earning increasing attention.

Now stylist Law Roach made headlines with the revelation that some of the fashion industry’s biggest brands refused to dress that star, and that it has influenced who he and Zendaya work with now, and who they don’t.

Roach appeared on The Cutting Room Floor podcast, telling host Recho Omondi about approaching brands early in Zendaya’s career.

“I would write Saint Laurent, Chanel, Gucci, Valentino, Dior, and they would all say, ‘No’,” he explained, reasoning that she was too “green”.

Roach said Zendaya still hasn’t worn the “big five” brands – Chanel, Gucci, Dior, Saint Laurent and Valentino – in public or in red-carpet appearances (although Variety reports they have been worn in editorial shoots). “She still has never worn Dior on a carpet,” he said. “She still has never worn Chanel on a carpet.”

One luxury house earned a change of tune. “When I said, ‘If you say no, it’ll be a no forever,’ that rang true for a long, long time.” Zendaya landed a contract with Valentino in 2020.

The star has brand relationships with luxury brands Bulgari and Louis Vuitton – though there have been rumours about that the relationship with the latter may be cooling) while Spanish brand Loewe has been a regular feature in the much-publicised tennis-themed wardrobe for her Challengers press tour. (Designer Jonathan Anderson did the costumes for the Luca Guadagnino film).

And there’s a constellation of designers she does wear in public: Prada, Thierry Mugler, Versace, Marc Jacobs, Erdem, Ralph Lauren.

Earlier this year Zendaya became the first star to cover both US Vogue and UK Vogue at the same time.

Zendaya is Law Roach’s main client, after the super-stylist stepped back from dressing celebrities in. “The politics, the lies, and false narratives finally got me!” he posted in a shock Instagram post. “You win – I’m out.”

These days Zendaya is his focus, and he says he’s “the most unretired retired person”. And as her career surges, the work required for promotion of films like Dune and Challengers, both of which had highly considered promotional wardrobes and countless public appearances, likely keeps Roach busy.

The pair have been working together since the Euphoria star was 14, and she has been outspoken in the past about how she’s been treated by the media.

In 2015 E! Fashion Police host Giuliana Rancic made “outrageously offensive” comments about Zendaya’s hair at the Oscars, prompting the actor to speak out publicly. That same year she criticised Modeliste magazine for airbrushing her body.

Roach has been candid too, and this isn’t the first time he’s discussed the challenges he and Zendaya have had with brands. “Nobody wanted to dress her when she wasn’t known, so I would put her in things that other people had already worn,” Roach told The Guardian, explaining a tactic that earned Zendaya regular placements in the ‘who wore it better’ columns that were common in the magazines and blogs of the 2000s.

Now she’s wearing rare archival fashion and couture – for the Met Gala Zendaya wore bespoke Maison Margiela Artisanal and vintage Givenchy, both by John Galliano, and Roach, a star in his own right now, attended the Met Gala too.

His ongoing candour about the business of styling and the challenges Zendaya faced before ascending to stardom shed light on the politics of the industry and how brands try to control their image.

Emma Gleason is the New Zealand Herald’s lifestyle and entertainment deputy editor (audience). Based in Auckland, she covers entertainment, fashion and culture.