Law Roach Is Sharing His Secrets: How to Build a Fashion Icon
ByAsia Milia Ware,
beauty editor at the Cutwho also writes the column “Why Is Your Skin So Good.” She has covered fashion and beauty for eight years with bylines in InStyle, Teen Vogue, Paper, and Essence.
Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photos: Getty Images, Retailer
Law Roach hasn’t missed a beat since shocking everyone last year by saying he was retiring. The first time he spoke about his retirement to the Cut last year, he said he was ready for a change: “I wanna figure other things out. I think not doing that job will give me the time and an ability to just try some other stuff. And if I fail at everything else, then I fail at everything else.” It turns out he’s not failing at all; the stylist has his hands in more than ever. His latest venture has been acquiring School of Style, an online education platform for stylists alongside the Only Agency. He’ll be teaching a eight-week styling course starting early next year with lessons on fittings, photo shoots, preproduction, and more. He also released his first book, How to Build a Fashion Icon, this month.
What is How to Build a Fashion Icon?
The book is 188 pages in eight chapters that act as a step-by-step guidebook on how to build your image. It weaves in stories of the stylist — who prefers the job title “image architect” — growing up in Chicago and building his celebrity clientele. He starts the book by sharing one of his most memorable moments with Zendaya when she was accepting the Fashion Icon Award at the CFDA Awards in 2021. “It was a moment. I felt tears in my eyes as I watched Zendaya go up onstage,” he recollects. “She was wearing an all-red custom look from Vera Wang that night. We had opted for a column skirt with a peplum, bandeau top, and cropped jacket. It probably wasn’t what people expected from her (or Vera), but we’d gone with it anyway.” His substantial career moments are only a portion of the book, which follows him as he finds his confidence, leans into being unapologetically himself, and helps the reader learn how to form a wardrobe.
Is the Book Worth It?
Whether you work in fashion or not, Roach does an amazing job of storytelling and sharing some of his inspirations. In one chapter, he talks about what inspires him: “I’m constantly watching movies and old documentaries — Mahogany with Diana Ross is one of my favorites. I’m also always falling down rabbit holes on Instagram or TikTok while in the car on the way to my next appointment or waiting for a food order alone. There’s a constant stream of inspiration and education from so many sources at the touch of our fingers, and if you pay attention to my work, you’ll see evidence of these inspirations everywhere: doing an ode or an homage to an old movie or even buying an actual piece of history and putting it on a client (or myself) to revitalize it.”
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