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Though he’s made most of his name crafting some of the most iconic looks, image architect and author Law Roach has been getting off quite a few fits on his own. On Wednesday night, the owner of the relaunched School of Style company attended the 2024 FN Achievement Awards in New York to present an award to On. For it, he wore a custom double-breasted black suit with the letters WIP going down the front and an emerald ring.
For shoes, Roach chose a pair of white sneakers from On. The lace-up styles appeared to be the same shoes worn by Sean Damian Tucker, the company’s North America head of marketing. The are likely the company’s court sneaker, the Roger silhouette. Roach’s suit was likely a reference to the acronym for Work In Progress. It could be a reference to his career which is currently in a transition phase.
Roach’s footwear style is eclectic. He goes from heeled platform pumps like the gold Valentino pair he wore in a cover story for The Hollywood Reporter to metal-tipped cowboy boots that he wore to the U.S. Open and even demure velvet booties like the ones he chose for the LACMA Art+Film Gala. Last year. he notably retired from his decade-long career as a celebrity stylist, electing only to work with choice clients like Zendaya and Celine Dion while fashioning himself into more of a public facing celebrity. Since then though, he’s had a major impact in the footwear space: around the release of Zendaya’s “Challengers” film, Roach styled the actress in a series of white Christian Louboutin So Kate pumps, giving interviews about the shoe. In the surrounding time search results for the shoe spiked on Google.
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In addition, Roach was one of the creative forces behind Zendaya’s campaign with On. The version that was released in October racked up $1.7 million in Media Impact Value over the span of 48 hours according to Launchmetrics. This was after the June campaign brought in some $3.5 million in Media Impact Value.
At the 38th annual FN Achievement Awards, On was honored with the Brand of the Year award. The Swiss athletic brand continues its strong standing in the ultra-competitive running market, growing global sales 24 percent in the first half of this year to 1.08 billion Swiss francs (or $1.24 billion at current exchange). And its already red-hot fashion cred got an additional boost this year from its collaboration with Loewe as well as the Zendaya partnership.
In 2021, Roach was honored at the FN Achievement Awards as the Style Influencer of the Year. “I just really want us to love each other, to keep loving each other, to keep being there for each other,” he said in an emotional speech. “And no matter what color you are, where you come from and you know how successful you are. At the end of the day, we are all we have.”