When Law Roach announced his shock retirement earlier this week, the first rumours to spread on social media were that his decision had something to do with what appeared to happen at the Louis Vuitton show on the final day of Paris Fashion Week.
In a video that made the rounds on social media, Roach appeared to look upset when there was no front-row seat for him beside his long-term client Zendaya, who he’d accompanied to the show. Zendaya looked confused as she pointed to an empty seat behind her.
Many pointed out that this incident, coupled with the fact that it very much looks like Zendaya is about to become an ambassador for the house, meaning her styling choices — and therefore, Roach’s job — will be limited might have been what tipped him over the edge and to the point of quitting the industry altogether.
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But in a new interview with The Cut‘s Editor-in-Chief Lindsay Peoples, Roach revealed what actually went down in the clip.
Roach said he and Zendaya were running late to the show, which left them both with “a lot of anxiety,” because “Zendaya is really respectful and she doesn’t like people to have to wait on her.”
When they arrived, the front-row was jam-packed with Louis Vuitton’s other ambassadors — including Sophie Turner, Emma Stone, Ana de Armas, Alicia Vikander and Chloë Grace Moretz — meaning Zendaya was only allotted a single seat in the front row when usually she and Roach are sat together.
“Even for years, like, I’m always used to sitting next to her. And so, in my mind, my seat was next to her. So when I got there and it wasn’t, you know, it wasn’t a problem, but there was nobody to tell me where my actual seat was,” he explained, adding that looking at the clothing side by side has become their routine.
“And so the seat behind her, when you see her turn around and touch the seat, it wasn’t her telling me to sit there, it was her telling me like, ‘That’s Darnell’s seat,’ which is her assistant. I’m not gonna sit in Darnell’s seat,” Roach said, referring to the viral video.
“That became really tough, because it made people think that Zendaya wasn’t taking care of me and wasn’t making sure I was taken care of.”
Roach said that after the show, he and Zendaya went to the afterparty, and emphasised that he has “no beef” with LVMH, Louis Vuitton’s parent company. He also confirmed yesterday that despite retiring, he, thankfully, won’t be ending his work with the Euphoria actress.
