Ariana Grande is about to embark on her “Sweetener” world tour, but don’t expect to see her straying too far from her signature look.
“Ariana Grande is absolutely iconic,” the pop star’s self-titled “image architect” Law Roach told Page Six Style at the launch of his new Mix Masters campaign for Bloomingdale’s.
“The ponytail is iconic. The A-line skirts are iconic. The over-the-knee boots are iconic. For me, it’s a formula to play with.”
And Roach is known for experimentation. The spring campaign, which features “Parenthood” actress Joy Bryant, 53-year-old style muse Grece Ghanem and more, celebrates expressing your personality with bold looks — which is why the stylist doesn’t think Grande needs to do away with the lampshade look for which she’s famous.
“[The look is] authentic to her, she owns that space and I don’t think she should change or try to change to please anybody,” explained Roach, whose past and current clients include Zendaya, Tiffany Haddish, Anne Hathaway and Céline Dion. “She owns the ponytail. If you put that silhouette behind a screen and backlit it, everyone in the world would see that and say, ‘That’s Ariana Grande.’ And that’s powerful!”
As far as what the pint-sized pop star, 25, will actually be wearing onstage while performing, Roach wasn’t so forthcoming. “I can’t tell you too much about it. I can tell you that I’ve never seen Ariana this excited,” he said, explaining that this is the second tour of Grande’s that he’s styled (he’s also collaborated with her on 15 music videos to date).
“She’s in a place now that she’s never been as a woman, as a human, as a musician, as an artist,” Roach added.
However, fans have managed to find a few fashion clues. Christian Siriano recently tagged Grande in a since-deleted photo of two babydoll dresses — one pink gingham, one iridescent purple, both with matching bows — that looked strikingly similar to styles the star has worn before.
Grande has also posted a few Instagram snaps from rehearsals, including one of a black and red shearling coat with matching boots by Area as well as a blue Moulin Rouge-esque look by DSquared2.
“In my career and with my clients I’m known as the stylist that wants to take risks and for my work to be a bit transformative,” Roach explained. “My philosophy is if you like it, try it on. If you love it, wear it. You can do a little bit of whatever you want. I really do believe that it’s a woman’s prerogative to be who she wants to be and express herself the way she wants to. I think that clothing is the most expressive and interactive art form — so just do it.”
Styling the “Sweetener” tour isn’t Roach’s only recent major undertaking, though; he also recently collaborated with Zendaya on her ’70s-inspired collection for Tommy Hilfiger. “Zendaya and I are kind of like fashion soulmates. She’s the ying to my yang and vice versa,” he said. “She just lets me fly, in a way, and I do the same for her. The synergy that we have is just incredible.”
The two had complete creative control when putting together the collection and used it to cast an all-black lineup of models that included Beverly Johnson (the first African-American model to star on the cover of American Vogue), Veronica Webb (the first black woman to have a major cosmetics contract) and 70-year-old icon Grace Jones.
“When we had our first meeting with Tommy he was like, ‘I’m just gonna give you the keys to the building,’ and we didn’t believe that at first. But he ended up just letting us do what we wanted to do, from concept to inception. We did the casting for the show, we chose the hair and makeup. There was nothing that happened with that collection that we didn’t have our hands on.”
After a busy month spent traveling to Paris Fashion Week with Zendaya and attending the Vanity Fair Oscar party with Tiffany Haddish, Roach will join Grande on tour at her first stop in Albany on Monday. He’ll be waiting in the wings with the racks of clothes, helping the pop star push her limits while staying true to her style.
“She’s one of the most talented, creative people I‘ve ever met in my life,” Roach said. “Just all around; not just singing, but her charisma and her attitude and her humor. She’s a huge star and I’m enjoying seeing the rest of the world enjoy her so much.”