Love Roche; The wizard of the world of clothes

In the popular and dynamic world of fashion and fashion, stylists play a very vital and fundamental role in creating and creating styles that fit the shape of the body, combining clothes together and finally creating memorable and eternal images. Stylists are responsible for all aspects of a person’s visual aesthetic; Using their talent, creative vision, taste and knowledge, they coordinate the components of clothes, accessories, hairstyles, makeup and finally the complete design of a beautiful look, and they are fully present and supervised in all these processes. “Love Roach” is one of the most famous and skilled stylists (image architects) in the current fashion world, or in other words, the magic hands behind the curtain of many of the most memorable looks of celebrities in various events. We are going to talk about Roach’s life to success and get to know him more in this article from Sarak’s closet magazine.

Who is Love Roche?

Love Roach, whose full name is Lawrence Roach, was born in Chicago in 1978. She is an African-American fashion stylist best known for working with famous artists and stars such as Zendaya, Céline Dion and Anya Taylor-Joy; But how did he get into this glamorous world?

Roach’s first foray into the fashion world was when she graduated from Chicago State University with a degree in psychology in 2006, but decided to open a thrift store in Chicago called Deliciously Vintage. A year later, he went to New York and opened another branch of his boutique in Harlem. Although both boutiques have been closed due to Roach’s high workload in the styling profession, they made Love’s dream come true and entered the world of celebrity styling. Love Roche has always declared that he is interested in vintage pieces and has said the phrase “vintage is my addiction” many times in various interviews. In the past and when he had a boutique, he used to put together and sell vintage and old clothes based on the current trends of the world and according to the runway of famous brands. He had become so famous and popular among his customers that Kanye West visited his boutique in 2009 under the pretext of seeing him. After this meeting, many stylists looked for Love Roach, and this is what led him to meet Zendaya.

In addition to being a stylist, Love Roche has also been a judge on several television shows; For example, he has been the main judge of the Legendary competition series from HBO Max, alongside Megan Thee Stallion and Keke Palmer. The competition was an American modern dance or voguing program that delved into drag ball culture, or in other words, “underground queer culture” and was canceled by HBO in 2022 after three seasons. He has also been a judge for other competitions such as Red Carpet Icons, Creative Fund: Fashion Edition and America‘s Next Top Model.

Recently, Love Roach and Julia Fox have teamed up to produce a new TV show called “OMG Fashun” that promotes sustainable fashion. There are three participants in each episode of this program and they have to make a loki with recycled materials so that it passes through the framework and structures and is liked by the judges (Fox, Roach and a guest judge).

The story of close friends: Love and Zendaya

Love Roche and Zendaya’s friendship and collaboration goes back to a chance meeting many years ago; Roach says about this: “I will never forget. It was 2011 and the lady who was a regular customer of my shop was also a close friend of Zendaya’s father. At that time, Zendaya, who had become one of the Disney stars with Shake It Up, was planning to go to Justin Bieber’s Never Say Never premiere, but she couldn’t find the right dress to wear. Finally, that mutual friend introduced me to Zendaya as a stylist, and from that time until now, Zendaya and I have become trusted and close friends and colleagues.

Roach’s long years of friendship with Zendaya have not lacked golden and good events; One of the first golden moments of this friendship was when Zendaya appeared on the cover of WWD magazine, when Roach chose Zendaya in a miuniku coat. Or the first time jeans, T-shirts and messy hair made the Disney star an attractive subject for die-hard street style photographers. “We always shopped and shopped together,” says Roach. But that day, within minutes, Zendaya was surrounded by street photographers. This was the first time this happened and Zendaya experienced something like this. I told him right then that all these photographers did not come because of you; Because everyone knows who you are, photographers take pictures of you because today you have become so beautiful and handsome.”

Of course, this friendship has also had difficult times; For example, Roach recently admitted that Zendaya was rejected by 5 big brands, including Valentino, Chanel, Gucci, Dior and Yves Saint Laurent: “These brands believed that Zendaya is not good at the moment, she is too green, and for now we have to wait.” slow I said that if you say no to us now, then this no should be forever and now it is clear that I was right. You have never seen Zendaya wear Gucci, Saint Laurent, Chanel or Dior on the red carpet. When Valentino wore it for the first time, it was for a campaign and they had signed a contract.”
Anyway, today Zendaya is the favorite person of all brands and has her own clothing and shoes brand called Daya by Zendaya, which she launched in partnership with Roach.

About all these years, Roach admitted that he fought for Zendaya: “I fought for Zendaya for years because I was not the child of a famous person, I never interned with a famous person and I was never in the industry from the beginning, so I had no organized structure, but in my work I am a professional and I know what is right and what is wrong.” Love Roche announced his retirement from styling celebrities in 2023 after pressure from the industry; But he said he would never say no to Zendaya and wants to devote most of his working time to his friendship and creative relationship with Zendaya. Of course, he returned to the fashion world stronger after a while.

The reason for announcing the retirement of this styling giant from his own words

On March 14, 2023, Love Roach announced his retirement from being a stylist on his personal Instagram, he said that he had been under a lot of pressure and unkindness over the years, including racism, with the title: “If this business was only about clothes. I would continue my job until the end of my life, but unfortunately it is not like that! Dirty politics, lies and false narratives took away my strength to continue working. You won… I’m out (of this job).”
However, after some time, Roach stated that Zendaya is like his little sister and the love between them is real and not a fake love in the industry, stating that he still proudly continues to work with Zendaya and will never say no to her; But it is better for him to stay away from the industry and the rest of its people for a while to focus more on his mental health, soul and body.

Three days after announcing his retirement, in an interview with The Cut on March 17, 2023, Roach cited burnout and a desire for a happier life as the main reasons for his retirement. He also spoke about the frustrations, challenges and pressures he faced in the industry, including the “false narratives” perpetuated by his colleagues that caused him to lose clients. He also mentioned being too immersed in his work as another reason for his retirement. Roach admitted that after his 3-year-old nephew fell from the 17th floor and died, he was so wrapped up in his work that he never had time to grieve, which led to his depression. In this interview, Roach emphasized his love for fashion and his continued commitment to protecting his regular customers; But he requested that in return, he and his feelings should be protected in this industry.

Throughout her career, Love has fearlessly criticized the fashion industry. According to Roach, racial prejudices and class differences prevent creative and truly talented people from reaching the top steps of this industry. He has always criticized the difficult and even impossible conditions of internship in different brands and complains about the little progress of brands in this field. Today, Love Roche is a popular model for young people and fans of the fashion world; Many of his works have been the background for the work of emerging artists and have helped many in their journey. “Until recently, I didn’t really realize how inspiring my career was to others,” she admitted. Because I had learned to keep my head down and not pay attention to anything other than my work; But since I’ve recently started reading people’s comments on social media, I’ve noticed how young people are motivated and appreciate me by seeing my career path. I want everyone to look at me and know that there is room for all of us in this small industry, so there should be more people like me, Jason Rembert and Jason Bolden in fashion, not just one or two!”

Wizard honors

Along with the honors he has brought to Zendaya, Love Roche also has many personal honors in the world of fashion. According to Kerry Washington, Love Roche is a history maker and a true artist, because he doesn’t just create a look, he creates a moment. Roach’s rise to these ranks is the result of his perseverance and tenacity over many years. This stylist, who has styled many celebrities in various Met Galas, reached his peak at Met Gala 2021 and was responsible for styling 10 celebrities including Kehlani, Hunter and Alton Mason. It was after this Met Gala that his fans dubbed him the MetGala Style King. Roche has also received many awards from various festivals; He received the 2021 Gem Award for Best Jewelry Stylist and the 2022 Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) Award for Best American Fashion Stylist in New York.

In 2017, Love Roach was featured on the cover of The Hollywood Reporter Stylist & Stars along with two of her close and respected clients, Zendaya and Celine Dion, making her the first African-American stylist of color to grace the magazine’s annual issue. covers In 2021, Love’s photo appeared on the cover of this magazine for the second time along with Zendaya and Anya Taylorjoy. Celine Dion first contacted Love in 2016 and asked him to be her personal stylist; Celine Dion became a fashion icon with Love’s help. Love has a collection of famous and star clients including Rihanna, Ariana Grande, Bella Hadid, Naomi Campbell and… who have always admired his work.

dress wizard TheHi to Thememorable

In recent years, Love is known as the main stylist of the Met Gala and various Hollywood events; For example, Zendaya’s dress at the 2019 Met Gala, which was inspired by Cinderella, or Rihanna’s iconic yellow dress at the 2015 Met Gala, Anya Taylor-Joy’s dress for the 2023 Vanity Fair after-Oscar party, Ariana Grande’s gray lace dress at the 2020 Grammys, Zendaya’s robot at the Dune 2 premiere and her incredible outfits at this year’s Met Gala (2024) were all chosen and styled by the legendary Love Roach.