Law Roach opened up about designing Zendaya’s Valentino dress at this year’s Emmy Awards and revealed that he only took one week to create the gown.
In an interview with Vogue on Tuesday, the 44-year-old designer discussed how Zendaya’s strapless, black gown at the occasion came to be. The look, which had pockets attached to its voluminous skirt, was also paired with a diamond necklace, earrings, and a ring.
During the conversation, Roach shared that the “inspiration” behind the gown came from some “Old Hollywood movies” and one of the biggest stars in them, Grace Kelly, along with previous works by Valentino.
“Zendaya and I were also really inspired by Valentino’s fall 1987 collection,” he said. “There was a red dress that Linda Evangelista wore in an editorial, and we took inspiration from the bodice of the dress—but we made it black and the skirt a lot bigger.”
According to Roach, Valentino had made three “incredible” dresses for the Dune star to wear at the awards show, but none of them seemed like the right fit to him. However, the Legendary judge said the perfect design suddenly came to him in a dream and the dress was fully put together in about a week.
“I woke up in the middle of the night and called Valentino, asking them to make this new dress,” he said. “It was the last dress we tried on, and I have to give a huge thanks to that team. Those women work so hard, and everything is done by hand.”
Regarding what was on his mind when designing the dress, Roach noted that he takes things “very literally,” and claimed that people have been “afraid” of their outfits looking too “much like a costume”. However, he said that with Zendaya, that wasn’t an issue.
“This look could have been perceived as costumey, but it’s the way that she carries herself on the carpet, where it never ends up looking that way,” he explained.
He went on to detail why he opted for her to wear only a few pieces of jewellery from Bulgari, adding: “I wanted her to shine through—it’s all about the girl and the dress.”
Following her Emmy win for her lead role in Euphoria, Zendaya attended an after party with another Valentino piece by Roach, which was an off-the-shoulder red dress with a plunging neckline.
Roach told Vogue that the outfit “was a modern version of the Julia Roberts Pretty Woman dress” and that its neckline was “shown at Valentino’s couture show”.
This is not the first time that Roach and Zendaya have worked together. In January, the former Disney Channel star attended the Season two premiere of Euphoria in a black and white gown by Roach.
While accepting her Emmy award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series on Monday night, Zendaya paid tribute to the fellow actors nominated in her category and addressed how she felt “so honoured to be beside” them. She then gave a shout out to her team on Euphoria and thanked them for “making such a safe space to make this very difficult show”.
