Vanity Fair’s style writer, José Criales-Unzueta, talks to the best stylists about the intricacies, strategies, and Easter eggs on red carpets in the Stylist Sessions. Law Roach, a “image architect,” talks on how he helped Wicked: For Good star Ariana Grande.
Law Roach tells me from a car on the way to the airport days before the 2026 Golden Globes, “I’ll say this as humbly as possible.” He’s heading to complete a shoot abroad before coming back to Los Angeles for the ceremony. “I think I’ve had some of the best fashion moments in the last ten years.”
Bob Mackie
This year, roach eggs is back with Ariana Grande, one of his first big-name clients. He designed fascinating her for her Dangerous Woman world tour in 2017. Roach says, “I’m really thankful to be working with Ariana again 10 years later in this part of her life.” “Being with her at this point in her journey is just amazing. Thank you so much for that.
Law will dress her again this weekend for the Golden Globes. We talked when he was on his way to the airport to get his stylist’s playbook. Spoiler alert: We talked on the phone on Tuesday, January 7, and Grande didn’t have a dress for the Globes yet. “I don’t have a dress.” Roach added, “We have dresses and choices.”
How do you outfit someone like Ariana Grande during awards season, José Criales-Unzueta? A second nomination for a Golden Globe and maybe a second nomination for an Oscar… It’s a huge deal.
Law Roach
It was a little different for me this year because someone else did it last year for Ariana and this Wicked: For Good press tour and award season. Last year, Mimi Cuttrell did Grande’s hair. I was a fan on the sidelines the first time because I had worked with Ariana on tours and music videos before. I just wanted to take everything and make it better by adding my own touch. It’s all about telling stories for me. You saw her in the Gilbert Adrian dress from the 1950s. He was a costume designer for the original Wizard of Oz fascinating, and she was nominated for these incredible honours and became an amazing actress. It’s all about creating stories. It’s about the tale I want to convey and what I want people to learn from the clothes and the experience.
Fascinator
When fascinator hat we talk about storytelling, we can talk about Ariana, who has had a long and successful career as a musician, which you have also been a part of, and is now moving on to acting. Do you consider about dressing her in a different way? What is the difference between Ariana the pop singer and Ariana the actress?
There are times and places when you should be an actress and times and places when you should be a pop star. I suppose there will always be a little of Glinda inside of Ariana. She fascinator hat practiced for that part her whole life, so it’s important to remember those little characteristics that make those characters different or help make them.
Can we discuss about the old-fashioned part of Ariana’s clothes ? I love that she’s been wearing so many famous things, some of which we know about, like Bob Mackie, and some of which we don’t. How did you come up with the idea of using vintage as a strategy?
Well, I began my career by selling old things. That’s what I did before I became a hairdresser. That’s something I’ve always had with me. It’s always been my toolset, per se. It just so happened that it become very popular in the last several years.
I think you helped make it more popular.
Thanks. That will always be with me. And I really like that. I think it’s a fun method to tell stories. And it’s also nice to use items that have been around for a long time and might have belonged to someone else, like her and the Carol Burnett clothing, for example. It’s just those little connections.
I think it’s amusing to leave little hints and clues, like Easter eggs. I just think it’s the only thing I’m good at. It’s my art… Ariana is an actress and a singer. I’m a stylist, and that’s how I talk to the world. I want it to be as fun and memorable as possible. What I realised, especially after I retired, is that people really liked the work and it provided them something to speak about and something to put in group text. It starts conversations and keeps them going. That really just offers me delight.
When you said you were retiring, a lot of people were curious about what it might imply for fashion in general. I’m interested in how that moment altered the way you styled and worked with clients in general. Did that make you change your plan?
I guess it made me feel like I had control over my life. It helped me see things more clearly and taught me how powerful it is to say no. That little hiatus altered a lot about how I run my business and how I want the remainder of my career to go.
I fascinator hat a lot of the talk around styling and awards season these days, like celebrities wearing vintage or pulling straight from the runway, comes from what you were doing before that moment. What do you think about observing how your work affects or changes the work of other stylists?
I believe it’s fun. I like fashion and red carpets and all the craziness that goes with it. I just happen to know what goes on behind the scenes, and it’s not that exciting. I adore it in general since I’m a fan of it. I appreciate the effort. I really like the research.
I believe that’s another thing; going back to work helped me really, really appreciate it more because I had so many clients and was doing so many things that I really got a chance to stand back and appreciate it. I’m glad to be working with Ariana again now, ten years after we initially completed Dangerous Woman and the tour.
I think you helped make it popular.
Thanks. That will always be with me. And I really like that. I think it’s a fun method to tell stories. And it’s also nice to use items that have been around for a long time and might have belonged to someone else, like her and the Carol Burnett clothing, for example. It’s just those little connections.
Roach Eggs
I think it’s amusing to leave little hints and clues, like roach eggs. I just think it’s the only thing I’m good at. It’s my art… Ariana is an actress and a singer. I’m a stylist, and that’s how I talk to the world. I want it to be as fun and memorable as possible. What I realised camp mystic flood, especially after I retired, is that people really liked the work and it provided them something to speak about and something to put in group text. It starts conversations and keeps them going. That actually makes me happy.
When you said you were retiring, a lot of people were curious about what it might imply for fashion in general. I’m interested in how that moment altered the way you styled and worked with clients in general. Did that make you change your plan?
Tim Russert
I guess it made me feel like I had control over my life. It helped me see things more clearly and taught me how powerful it is to say no. That little hiatus altered a lot about how I run my business and how I want the remainder of my career to go.
I think a lot of the talk around styling and awards season these days, like celebrities wearing vintage or pulling straight from the runway, comes from what you were doing tim russert before that moment. What do you think about observing how your work affects or changes the work of other stylists?
I believe it’s fun. I like fashion and red carpets and all the craziness that goes with it. I just happen to know what goes on behind the scenes, and it’s not that exciting. I adore it in general since I’m a fan of it. I appreciate the effort. I really like the research.
I believe that’s another thing; going back to work helped me really, really appreciate it more because I had so many clients and was doing so many things that I really got a chance to stand back and appreciate it. I’m glad to be working with Ariana again now, ten years after we initially completed Dangerous Woman and the tour.
