Stylist Turned self-help guru

By Dee Kwong

It’s only been a year since Law Roach, one of fashion’s most sought-after stylists, announced his retirement. The night after the Oscars, Roach’s new Instagram post had “Retired” stamped on a blank image. The caption read, “The politics, the lies, and false narratives finally got me.” Although officially retired, Roach is still working around the clock. Since then, Zendaya has stayed as his only full-time client. Throughout the press tours for “Dune: Part Two” and “Challengers,” Roach was behind, working the magic. However, he hasn’t forgotten his other muses—Céline Dion for the 2024 Grammy Awards, Megan Thee Stallion wearing 1997 Paco Rabanne, and Mona Patel’s moving butterflies at the 2024 Met Gala.

To be Law Roach, you can’t stick to one thing. Since then, Roach has also debuted his first major runway for the Hugo Boss Fall/Winter 2023 runway show, hosted the British Fashion Awards red carpet, and was asked to be a permanent judge on Julia Fox’s new fashion reality competition, OMG Fashun. Now, he’s a self-help guru focused on developing the next generation’s talent through his latest book, How to Build a Fashion Icon: Notes on Confidence from the World's Only Image Architect.

Roach has always called himself an Image Architect, preferring it over the word stylist. “I’m always doing things my way, with my own spin,” Roach writes in his book. However, for readers who expect it to be a technical guide to fashion behind the scenes, get ready to be disappointed. 

How to Build a Fashion Icon is straightforward. However, it’s too on the nose. Perfect for your everyday 14-year-old boy—or girl—How to Build a Fashion Icon reads like a typical self-help book, not so different from its competitors. It could’ve been an article instead. Each chapter ends with a stream-of-consciousness writing exercise. Rather than a fashion insider book of knowledge, ​​the book presents itself as a manifesto (as the blurb claims), diluting what readers came for—him. 

If you want to know more about Roach’s process, you’re better off digging through interviews, like The Cut’s exclusive interview with the architect himself. Only glimpses of Roach’s tenacity are shown in the book. Perhaps it’s too early to write a memoir, but Roach has plenty to share—stories better told through his lived experiences.