What's Zendaya Got to Do With Celine Dion's Sudden Style Transformation?
Just a few weeks ago Celine Dion emerged as a style star to watch...kind of out of nowhere. As I wrote then, while I know all the words to many of Dion's songs, her outfits never really brought out a similar passion. That was, until she teamed up with her new stylist, Law Roach. In a short period of time the "image architect," as he calls himself, behind Zendaya, Ariana Grande, Ruby Rose, and Skai Jackson added fashion darling to Dion's legendary CV, dressing her in It pieces from of-the-moment brands like Off-White, Demna Gvasalia's Balenciaga, and Hedi Slimane's Saint Laurent.
"It's a lot of work, but I'm having fun, and I'm actually quite humbled by all the press that it's getting," Roach told me over the phone from Paris. "I'm just doing my job, you know. But I guess I've made some good choices!" Over the next 30 minutes, Roach, who began his career as a vintage broker, shared how his relationship with Dion came to be, discussed what it's like to work with a celebrity with her star power, and revealed what else we can expect from his relationship with Celine Dion.
Everyone wants to know: How did you and Celine find each other?
She started following Zendaya and her looks. It's so funny, she knows her show K.C. Undercover because she has children, but she didn't have an idea of who Zendaya really was. But she started looking at the things she was wearing and basically said, "You know, this girl is like 19, but I can wear the same clothes that she wears because it's so sophisticated." She said she Googled who Zendaya's stylist was and when my name popped up she had her team contact me. And that's it! I went to her Vegas show (which was amazing) and then the very next day, after the Billboard Awards, we met and we sat and we talked for about 20 minutes just about fashion and who I am. There was a certain energy, it was amazing. Then the very next day they offered me the job and were like, "Well, can you come to Paris with Celine for a month?" And I was like, "Absolutely." It was crazy.
What went through your mind when you got that email from Celine's team?
When my manager first said, "Someone from Celine's team called and they want to talk to you," I was like, "Celine. Celine who? Couldn't be Celine Dion." And she was like, "No, exactly Celine Dion." I was freaking out. I mean, you have superstars and you have legends. Celine is an icon. She is an absolute icon. And when I finally had the conversation with her and she told me how she found me and Googled my work-like one of the looks she referenced was of Zendaya from New York Fashion Week a few years ago. She went back that far. I was like, "Wow, Celine Dion is Googling me and knows so many things." The thing about Celine is she's very into fashion. She reads the magazines and she's very current. Which I was surprised about. So it was beyond. She's telling me all this stuff and I'm like, "Celine! I can't take too much more!"
How does actually getting ready for this come together?
I have an French assistant who's here working with me and I have [one in] L.A. as well. But we don't even do that many fittings. I'm so emotional about fashion that I can't plan looks. We have a workroom that's full of clothes and Celine comes down every day to get dressed in the morning and we just go on how I'm feeling or what pieces are talking to me. And I just pull the look. She comes in and I dress her and that's it!
Was it hard to get designers to lend to her?
Well, let's back up. I had no idea Celine Dion didn't really get fashion press. That was news to me. It's Celine Dion; when you do see her she always looks great! So before I came to Paris I reached out and many people said no. And then after your write-up, all the show rooms were like, "We'd love to send you stuff for Celine." And now it's crazy. Everyone's clamoring to dress her now.
I'm sure they are.
You know, Celine loves fashion. She was speechless after the Giambattista Valli show. It was the cutest thing. I said, "Celine, when is the last time you went to a fashion show?" And she said, "Twenty years ago." And in interviews she's said I just want to thank my stylist for bringing me back to what I love so much.
You can tell from the photos that she's really having fun with it.
Yeah she is. And she is one of the most humble, down-to-earth people I've ever met in my life. She is a dream. An absolute dream. I mean, when I found out about the job I was like, She's a probably a diva and if she is she deserves to be, so I'm going to come in and just do my job. But when we had our first fitting, which was like a three-hour fitting, we laughed the whole time. I was like, Who is this woman? She's such a lady, in a vintage way. I haven't seen that in a long time in this profession. It's amazing.
She's been going through a hard time, so it's nice to see her so happy.
Yeah, she's definitely having fun and it makes me excited about her and want to work 10 times harder. When I see how happy she is, I'm like, Okay, what's next?
So you're with Celine for the rest of the month?
We're in Paris until the 10th [of July]. We have four more looks to go.
Will you continue working with her after this?
Yeah, yeah. We're stuck together [laughs]. If I could afford to work for free I probably would. It's all about the feeling I get when I see [my clients] feel their most beautiful. I'm very flattered by all the press. I was just thinking, Oh this look is great, Celine is going to love this. Or Zendaya is going to love this and feel beautiful and amazing in this. Women feeling happy and excited and beautiful is what feeds me.
How does Zendaya feel knowing that she inspired Celine Dion?
She was like, "Celine Dion knows who I am?" [laughs].
