Fashion icon behind Zendaya’s epic looks finally reveals the reason for his shocking retirement

Celebrity fashion icon Law Roach, best known for styling high-profile stars such as Zendaya and Celine Dion, has opened up about the real reasons behind his shocking retirement.

The former America’s Next Top Model and Legendary judge announced in March 2023 that he would be stepping back from the world of celebrity styling, writing on Instagram that his “cup is empty”.

“If this business was just about the 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,” he wrote at the time.

Now, almost 18 months on from his decision to retire from that side of the fashion business, Roach has candidly explained some of the personal reasons for doing so.

Speaking to Elle, he shared that he wrote the post following the 2023 Oscars Vanity Fair Party after he was hounded via phone by an unnamed client and her publicist, and a publicist from a brand.

The clients in question were having a heated discussion with Roach about looks for the Met Gala that coming May.

“I was like ‘Why am I doing this? I change people’s lives with fashion. I said, “You know what? Get someone else to do it,’” he revealed.

“When you’re really good at your job, people think you keep the clothes under your bed. They call you at 4am and they’re like ‘Well, she’s going to such and such and she needs a dress, but it’s 5am on a Sunday.

“When you’re good and you make things happen, you give the client and their teams the sense that anything is possible. To keep up with that, you make anything and everything possible. It’s a never-ending cycle.”

Roach further explained that the death of his young nephew – who was three-years-old when he died in 2021 after falling from the 17th floor of a Chicago building – also prompted his decision to quit. 

In addition, the death of his uncle, and decisions Roach took around the funeral, fuelled his choice to step back.

“You never feel as appreciated for the amount of work you put into it,” he said. “In the last couple of years, after my nephew died… I started to see the things that weren’t quite right and didn’t feel right.”

After his uncle died, Roach recalled asking his cousin to move the funeral date so he could accommodate a client’s fitting request.

“I thought how f**king terrible and selfish was I to ask my cousin, who was grieving the death of her father, to accommodate me? I felt like sh*t when I remembered that, but that’s how caught up I was in the career,” he admitted.

“Nothing else mattered. I don’t regret working like I did, but I do regret some of the situations that came out of it.”

Now, the stylist is feeling like a “new” person, as he continues to work with Challengers star Zendaya on her red carpet looks.

Law Roach has previously opened up about “never really” having “a lot of problems” growing up as a gay Black man in Chicago, as he was “always comfortable with being me”.

In 2023, he suggested that he identifies as aromantic, telling Johnny Sibilly on Spill that he doesn’t “really feel or desire romantic love” and has never been in a romantic relationship.

Law Roach’s book How To Build a Fashion Icon: Notes on Confidence is out 10 October.

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