Law Roach Named 'Top Stylist of the Year,' Makes History

If you don't know Law Roach's name, you probably aren't paying attention to red carpets. The stylist has made a name for himself as a self-described and trademarked "image architect" crafting the style profiles -- and by extension the images -- of countless stars over the years. And now, he's been named "Top Stylist of the Year."

The Hollywood Reporter annually publishes a list of Hollywood's most powerful stylists and this year, Roach has made history as being the first Black stylist to be named to the top slot. In 2017, he first made history as the first Black stylist to make the cover. That year, he was number 21.

Roach appears on the 2021 cover with Zendaya and Anya Taylor-Joy, two of his clients. Roach started his celebrity styling career with Zendaya, having styled the young talent since 2011. But his client list has ballooned over the years, styling the likes of Celine Dion, Ariana Grande, Kerry Washington, Mariah Carey, and more. Currently, he's working with Washington, Taylor-Joy, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Tom Holland, Hunter Schafer, Tiffany Haddish, and Aldis Hodge. He's even recently done work with Halsey. This all comes in addition to his role as judge on HBO Max's Legendary. But he didn't let this moment of recognition keep him from pointing out issues within the industry.

"If you look at the top Black stylists, it's me, it's Micah [McDonald] and Wayman [Bannerman, of Wayman + Micah]," he told THR. "It's Jason Bolden. We're the three, I think, leading the pack. I'm the only one who has dressed and continues to dress A-list white talent, as well as my Black talent. That's because there's a system in Hollywood where new talent and those girls are funneled through the same group of people, ... I always call them the same five white women. That's just the system. When somebody comes into Hollywood, and they're building that team, you have the manager, the publicist, and the agent [making] the [same five] recommendations on stylists, hair, makeup."

Even with that, Roach has built was he called a "global, multimillion-dollar business." He's also helped to groom others working in the field like Kollin Carter, who once was his assistant and now styles Cardi B, as well as photographers Donte Maurice and Ahmad Barber, who have worked with Roach to shoot covers of InStyle, Hollywood Reporter, and more. This comes in addition to his other efforts like raising $100,000 to give to Black-owned fashion and beauty businesses in Chicago that were impacted by the pandemic.

Other top stylists on the list include Jason Bolden, who works with talent like Cynthia Erivo, Janet Mock, Taraji P. Henson, and Trevor Noah, as well as Nicola Formichetti, who is known the world over for his work with Lady Gaga. Harry Lambert, Harry Styles' stylist, is also on the lineup.

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