Law Roach Reveals ‘Big Five’ Brands Who Rejected Zendaya Early In Her Career: ‘If You Say No, It’ll Be a No Forever’
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Zendaya‘s longtime stylist, Law Roach, still remembers the luxury designers who refused to dress the model early in her career. During his recent appearance on The Cutting Room Floor podcast with Recho Omondi, Roach said major brands such as Chanel, Saint Laurent, Dior, Gucci and Valentino turned down Zendaya before she rose to fame.
“I would write [to] the big five… and they would all say no. ‘Try again next year,’ ‘she’s too green,’ ‘she’s not on our calendar,’” Roach said on the podcast, adding that he kept “the receipts.”
Zendaya, however, continued to work hard to find opportunities in the fashion industry. At age 18, the rising star appeared at the Met Gala for the first time, BuzzFeed News reported. Two years later, she was featured on the cover of American Vogue.
As she rose to fame, Zendaya caught the attention of the designer who turned her down early in her career, Roach said. However, the 27-year-old star decided to not wear anything from those brands.
“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, so when I said, ‘If you say no, it’ll be a no forever,’ that rang true for a long, long time.”
When Zendaya was getting turned down from major brands, Roach said he had to dig deep to find clothes for the star.
“We’ve been [pulling vintage] since Zendaya and I began working together, for 13 years now. At first, it came out of necessity because back when we started, nobody would lend her clothes,” the designer told Vogue in February. “And I come from vintage — I had a vintage store in Chicago — so a lot of the things that she wore were things from my store or vintage pieces.”
As Blavity previously reported, Zendaya and Roach recently launched Challengers Magazine, inspired by the young star’s Challengers movie. The film features Zendaya as a tennis coach who’s caught up in a messy love triangle.
