One of the most beautiful things, if not the most beautiful thing, about Zendaya and Law Roach’s partnership is that we know it’s a partnership. They made a promise to each other when they started working together that it would be a joint rise – and that’s exactly what has happened. 

 

Before Zendaya and Law, stylists were not household names the way Law is a household name. Like, sure, back in the day very online people were aware of who Rachel Zoe was but I think we can all agree that Law Roach is way ahead of Rachel, it’s nowhere near the same universe of conversation. Law becoming a name unto himself, recognised as an icon himself, is by design, it was part of the plan that he and Zendaya strategised together. 

 

I say this because in the days following the Met Gala, on the heels of the Challengers press tour, which came pretty much right after the Dune: Part 2 press tour, Law has had the spotlight to himself, with interviews and appearances, giving him the opportunity to talk about his work, take credit for his work while Zendaya has gone back underground having been way, way, way outside for months. And that’s the beauty of their collaboration. She wants us to know and appreciate his brilliance. He did that interview with Extra the other day and he was also on The Cutting Room Floor podcast with Recho Omondi in conversation about his career and what it was like at the beginning. 

 

Here’s the moment during their discussion that’s gone viral – it’s Law basically talking about his burn book and naming names: 

This is tea, for sure, but it’s not pet-tea. Sorry, sorry, SORRYYYYY, I couldn’t resist! Anyway, Law’s actually not being petty here. He’s actually making multiple non-petty points, the first of which lines up with one of his consistent arguments: that the fashion gatekeepers are often shortsighted and that shortsighted is, ultimately, bad for their business. If you’ve never dressed the most fashionable woman on the planet and worked with one of fashion’s most exciting visionaries, that is bad for business. 

 

But it’s also not petty because Law’s bigger message here is that while he and Zendaya can have access to just about anyone in fashion NOW, back then, they had no help – which means that their success and what they’ve achieved came from imagination, resourcefulness, experimentation, determination. He’s making it clear that they f-cking built this from scratch, by going vintage, by pulling off-the-rack and styling pieces in a way that had not been seen before and keeping to that spirit even after they started to climb. Law didn’t abandon his principles the minute that people started paying attention even though, sure, it would have been tempting to accelerate their momentum but going back to the brands that finally would have agreed to come on board. There was no compromising for Zendaya and Law, not unless there was compensation. This is hard, I’m telling you this because I know it, I see it, I’ve experienced it. To not operate from a place of fear, as in – oh they’re such a big deal and they want to work with me, and it’s OK if I do it for free, because all that matters is that they’ve noticed me and it’s enough that they want me. F-ck no, it’s not enough, is what Law was sticking it. I admire it because I’m not good at it, I admire it because Law is so good at it. I’m sure it would have been scary, but he believed in himself more than he was afraid. And isn’t that the most f-cking exhilarating thing? 

Here are some shots of Zendaya that we have yet to post of her leaving her hotel the morning after the Met Gala in a gorgeous olive green trench.