- Now one of showbiz’s biggest style icons, Zendaya’s stylist Law Roach says ‘the big five’ fashion houses refused to work with her at the start of her career
- He warned them that if they said no, they would be ‘doing so for a long, long time’
- Roach has been true to his word – and despite working with Zendaya for 10 years, he has never dressed her in the likes of Chanel or Gucci for any red carpet or public appearance
She’s now Hollywood’s biggest A-Listers.
But while Zendaya may have looked impeccable during the press tour for her new movie, Challengers, it’s no thanks to a certain group of designers.
The actor, AGE, has been styled by Law Roach since she was 14 – and now, the fashionista has named and shamed the brands who refused to work with Zendaya during her early years in the spotlight.
“I would write the big five. I would write Saint Laurent, Chanel, Gucci, Valentino, Dior, and they would all say, ‘No, try again next year. She’s too green. She’s not on our calendar,’” Roach said during an interview with The Cutting Room Floor podcast.
“I still have the receipts,” he continued. “By the time she got to [the cover of] American Vogue [in 2017], she still had never worn any of those designers. She still hasn’t.”
While Zendaya has worn garments by these designers in editorial shoots, Roach – who continues to work with Zendaya, despite announcing his retirement from celebrity styling over a year ago, and most recently styled her for this year’s Met Gala – clarified that she had never stepped out in their designs in public or during red carpet appearances.
‘When I said, “It’ll be a no forever,” that rang true for a long time.’
During the press tour for Challengers – which also stars Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist – Zendaya impressed fans with her tennis themed outfits.
Appearing at a photocall in Rome, the star – who has been in a relationship with her Spider-Man co-star Tom Holland since 2021 – stepped out in a pair of white stilettos which had tennis balls skewered onto the heels, paired with a sporty holographic silver Loewe dress with black trimming and a pleated miniskirt.
Other looks included another Loewe gown (this time, it was glittery green and floor-length, with a graffiti-like graphic of a figure hitting a tennis ball) and a white two piece from Lacoste – a brand which was founded in 1933 by tennis legend René Lacoste.
In other Zendaya-related news, she and Timothée Chalamet are set to star in an “Edward Scissorhands” remake.
“She still has never worn Dior on a carpet. She still has never worn Chanel on a carpet. She has still never worn Gucci on a carpet — any press, any appearance, never. Never,” Roach said. “The first time she wore Valentino in public is when she had a contract.”
He added, “When I said, ‘If you say no, it’ll be a no forever,’ that rang true for a long, long time.”
Additionally, Beyoncé’s mom, Tina Knowles, paid Zendaya the highest compliment, likening her to her own daughter.
It appears that hell hath no fury like a stylist scorned…
