How Law Roach Tackled the Challenge of Styling Ariana Grande’s Worldwide Tour

On Friday night, Ariana Grande opened her worldwide “Dangerous Woman” tour in Phoenix, Ariz. With the British group Little Mix as her opener, the 23-year-old star took the stage at the Talking Stick Resort Arena wearing a number of custom looks. To bring together her style for the tour, Grande went to a name she was familiar with, stylist Law Roach.

“It was about giving Ariana’s core [fans] the silhouette they already are familiar with, but in a much more couture and elevated way,” Roach told Yahoo Style in an interview Saturday about the overall goal. “I think what Ariana is really smart about and conscious of is knowing who her fans are and letting them grow with her and not trying to outgrow them.”

The power stylist and self-deemed image architect had worked with Grande before on videos like “Side to Side” as well as “Dangerous Woman” in addition to various red carpet appearances. With that rapport established, the pair worked together on the 50-plus date tour, incorporating a variety of looks that would see the stunner shed any remaining innocence she may have had in favor of a sexier, more album-appropriate look.

“Ariana really wanted to focus on young designers,” Roach said. To accomplish that, the stylist reached out to smaller, independent brands like Sergio Hudson, Michael Ngo, and Bryan Hearns. Hudson, a South Carolina native who last made waves when he won Rihanna’s Styled to Rock fashion competition, designed the final look of the night. That PVC coatdress no doubt made an impact as it closed out the performance. The neckline of the garment showed off Grande’s most appealing assets.

“Her face, her neckline, her shoulders, her décolletage; those are all what I find to be some of Ariana’s most beautiful parts,” Roach admitted. It makes sense, then, that the tour looks included a lot of bralette tops, even at one point a bra from Calvin Klein. The ’90s vibes evoked by that piece were only underscored by Virgil Abloh’s custom Off White design. That look featured a pair of jeans billowing out from the singer’s tiny waist. But it wasn’t all about the clothes.

“For me, this tour was a lot about the shoes,” Roach pointed out. “Ariana is one of the few girls that’s always in six-inch double platform heels. Singing, dancing, rehearsing, she’s always, like, in 140-millimeter heels. It’s kind of spectacular.” With Grande’s emphasis on footwear as his guide, the stylist who works with the likes of Zendaya and Celine Dion in addition to serving as a judge on the recent relaunch of America’s Next Top Model pulled out all the stops. Giuseppe Zanotti and Loriblu were brought on to complete this aspect of the brief. But Roach wasn’t working alone.

“It was a lot of work,” he admitted. In addition to styling Grande herself, there were backup dancers and some video content. “So I really wanted to build a team of some really strong people, some that I’ve worked with before, and some that I haven’t, to pull it off.”

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