Stylist Law Roach Reflects on the ‘Global Conversation’ Started After Zendaya Wore Locs at the 2015 Oscars | News

Zendaya handled the insulting reaction to her dreadlocks at the 2015 Oscars with grace, and the iconic hairstyle was partly why The CROWN Law arise.

Law Roach, the actress’ stylist since 2011, spoke about the iconic moment at the TeenVogue Summit on Saturday, November 23, reflecting on Zendaya’s decision to wear knotted locks to the awards show. The How to build a fashion icon began his reflections by noting that the locomotives were “controversial to so many people,” before referring to the former Fashion Police Presenter Giuliana Rancic, who made “really terrible comments” about appearance.

Rancic – who would eventually apologize for her comments – caused a stir when she said the locs made Zendaya look like she “smelled like patchouli oil or weed,” to which the challenger Star replied on Instagram. “There is a fine line between what is funny and irreverent,” Zendaya began in a written statement. She continued: “To say that an 18-year-old young woman with curly hair must smell like patchouli oil or ‘grass’ is not only a huge cliché, but also outrageously offensive.”

“She was literally a child,” Roach added TeenVogue Summit. “Fashion has the ability to make political statements. And I think that we should use fashion to express ourselves and express what we agree with and disagree with and what’s going on in politics because it’s our voices that make the difference.”

Roach continued, “But with this one case, the way Black hair was accepted in schools and the workplace changed. Although we did not set out to make this grand statement because of what happened, the Crown Act actually arose from that incident.”

He concluded: “So again, just being a part of this moment, because she was wearing these dreads to pay homage to her father, and I had dreads at the time, and this was something we were doing and I didn’t know it. “It would happen like that. But we’re grateful for it because it really sparked a global conversation about what’s appropriate for Black people’s hair, especially Black women’s hair.”

Launched in 2019, the CROWN Act stands for “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair” and guarantees that Black hairstyles such as braids, curls, twists and buns are not discriminated against in the workplace or educational institutions. In March 2022, the federal U.S. House of Representatives passed the CROWN Act banning hair-related discrimination by a vote of 235 to 189.