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The Good Buy is a podcast from Harper’s Bazaar in which editors Leah Chernikoff and Lynette Nylander invite celebrities, designers, models, and tastemakers to talk shop: what they buy, where they got it, and why it matters. Come down the fashion rabbit hole and take a peek inside the closets and shopping carts of the world’s most stylish people. Learn how they use style to tell their stories.
The second guest of season two of The Good Buy needs no elaborate introduction: it’s the man, the myth, the legend—Law Roach. Having coined the term “image architect” to describe his own methodical approach to styling, Roach has worked with an impressive roster of A-list stars including Celine Dion, Naomi Campbell, and of course, Zendaya, and is behind some of the most memorable red carpet moments of the past decade.
The Chicago-born fashionphile started his career selling vintage and admiring clothes from afar. These days, his vintage collection includes a remarkable range of pieces from Tom Ford’s Gucci era. “I collect those things to show myself that I’ve been able to achieve and I am a part of that world,” he admits.
Bazaar sat down with the style icon to learn about the way he approaches shopping, what it takes to find your power piece, and how he’s creating his legacy. Read on for highlights, and listen to the show in full here or watch it above.
On investing in fashion:
“First of all, we all know clothes are expensive. So I like to shop for myself and buy things I think are art, or worthy to be cherished, whether I wear them or not… [For] vintage, I’ll spend anything on a piece, especially if it’s something that I remember when I was younger that I wanted that I couldn’t afford.”
On his addiction to vintage:
“I think I almost know every vintage dealer around the world and eBay, Grailed, The RealReal…that is my crack. I do have alerts set up on all those things and then I just stay up at night and it’s like my only vice.”
On redefining red carpet style:
“I’m definitely not going to try to take full credit for it because there are many people [who] really wear vintage—I would say Chloë Sevigny, even Kim Kardashian, people who have been wearing vintage on the red carpets and to events. But I think the way we do it and the way we [do] storytelling has really taken vintage dressing on the red carpet to a whole entirely different level.”
On his legacy:
“I’ve always said that the way I curate—the things that I purchase and hold onto and take care of and love and cherish—will be part of my estate sale. And when I’m no longer here, hopefully people revere and want to make some of my things part of their legacy as well.”
On building relationships:
“I like the relationship with the people that sell me clothes. They go above and beyond when I’m looking for something…Before I was a stylist, I was a bartender. So I lived off of the kindness of other people. I lived off tips and, you know, we were helping each other in this great fiduciary relationship where it’s reciprocated and it just feels good.”
Shop Law’s Good Buys
HIS FIRST BUY:
“The first [bag] I bought in Paris when I was with Celine [Dion] was the Hermès HAC, which is considered the men’s Birkin. It’s a travel bag and you know it’s really not practical to walk in the street [with it]. I remember taking myself out to dinner and sitting it in a chair across from me and just being so proud of myself because my hard work was starting to pay off.”
HIS REPEAT BUY:
Men’s Dress Shirt Regular Fit
$20.04 at amazon.com
“In my book, I talk about having a power piece. That’s something that you go to that you know you look good in, that makes you feel confident, it makes you feel comfortable. For me, I constantly buy white button-down shirts, in all variations, but the ones I buy the most are inexpensive—some from Amazon, some from the Big + Tall store. I’ll get 4X and do all types of things. But when I put on a clean, beautiful, crisp white shirt, I just feel styled. I feel expensive. I feel confident. I feel put together. I feel it can go from any situation from daytime to night.”
HIS REGRET BUY:
“My look for the CFDA Awards—not last year, but I think the year before that—was kooky. I wore Luar—which, I love him so much—and it is crazy. It was a jumpsuit, but I had my underwear exposed. I was feeling risque. I wanted to just go for it. [Luar’s] clothes could be avant-garde in a way, mixed with streetwear, so I don’t know, I wanted to just take a chance and just do something. I had my natural hair and all that and so it was just like whatever. And they tore me apart on the internet. I don’t really get a lot of bad comments on Instagram or social media…but at least, you know, they were talking about me! I don’t regret it, but if I were to go back I would have changed a few things”
HIS MOST RECENT GOOD BUY:
Python Leather Jacket
$19.68 at ebay.com
Leather Cropped Jacket
$3497.00 at fwrd.com
Croc-Effect Leather Drawstring Trousers
$3145.00 at mrporter.com
“The other day I wore this Tom Ford Gucci all-python tracksuit with matching cowboy boots…I am a child of Lil’ Kim and Foxy Brown, so python and exotics and all those things are in my DNA. It’s part of what I think luxury is.”
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