Law Roach just opened up about Zendaya's iconic 2015 Oscars red carpet appearance. At the time, her look stirred up much conversation, leading to a major controversy and discussion about how society views Black women's hair. The stylist and “Image Architect” just reflected on the moment and the following events that unfolded.
On November 23, Roach took on the Teen Vogue Summit stage in Los Angeles in conversation with Senior Fashion Editor Tchesmeni Leonard. After an interruption from anti-fur protestors, Roach acknowledged that Teen Vogue does not use fur and redirected the conversation to engage the audience's questions one-on-one about everything from his work as a stylist to his new book and his advice to young professionals. One of the moments in his career that he discussed was Zendaya's 2015 Oscars look. She had worn a white strapless Vivienne Westwood corseted dress and wore her long locs in a half-up, half-down hairdo. At the time, Giuliana Rancic made racially insensitive comments about her locs.
Now, nine years later, Roach revisited the moment. He began by saying, “Fashion has the ability to make political statements. And I think that we should use fashion to express ourselves and what we agree with and what we disagree with and what's going on in politics because its our voices that make a difference." Roach continued, “This went on to change the way Black people's hair was accepted in schools and a workplace.”
Roach expressed that they were not expecting any of those events to happen, “but we are grateful that it did because it really created a global conversation about what's appropriate for Black people's hair and especially Black women.”
Roach' is current promoting his new book How to Build a Fashion Icon: Notes on Confidence from the World’s Only Image Architect was released this past September. It is available at popular book retailers and Amazon.com as well.
