Law Roach is reflecting on sparking change when Zendaya wore dreadlocks to the 2015 Academy Awards.
The celebrity stylist, who has also been a longtime client and close friend of the actress since she was a teen, recently opened up at the Teen Vogue Summit about the style decision for her Oscars appearance when the Challengers star was 18 years old. At the time, Fashion Police co-host Giuliana Rancic drew criticism for saying Zendaya looked like “she smells like patchouli oil or weed” that night.
Though Roach doesn’t say Rancic’s name during the panel discussion, he said these “really awful comments” made by “this TV personality” actually led to important conversations.
“Fashion has the ability to make political statements, and I think that we should use fashion to express ourselves and what we agree with and what we disagree with, what’s going on in politics, because it’s our voices that should make a difference,” the stylist continued. “That one instance went on to actually change the way Black people’s hair was accepted in schools and the workplace. So although we did not set out to make this big statement, because of the events that happened, The Crown Act was actually birthed from that incident.”
The Crown Act, which stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair, was created in 2019 to “ensure protection against discrimination based on race-based hairstyles by extending statutory protection to hair texture and protective styles such as braids, locs, twists and knots in the workplace and public schools.”
Roach added, “It was something that we were just doing and didn’t know that it would happen that way. But we are grateful that it did because it really created a global conversation of what’s appropriate for Black people’s hair, especially Black women.”
Following Rancic’s remarks, Zendaya clapped back at the former E! News host, saying her reaction consisted of “ignorant slurs and pure disrespect.” The Euphoria star added at the time, “To say that an 18 year old young woman with locs must smell of patchouli oil or ‘weed’ is not only a large stereotype but outrageously offensive.”
Rancic later apologized on-air during E! News, saying, “This really has been a learning experience for me — I’ve learned a lot today — and this incident has taught me to be a lot more aware of cliches and stereotypes, how much damage they can do. And that I am responsible, as we all are, to not perpetuate them further.”
Zendaya responded at the time, saying she was “glad it was a learning experience for you and for the network.”
English (US) ·