Here’s how Law Roach and Zendaya’s partnership began

With two jaw-dropping looks, Zendaya was the arguable winner of Monday night’s Met Gala. But she couldn’t do it without her equally iconic stylist Law Roach — and in a new interview, Roach revealed how they’ve stuck together for so long.

Roach and Zendaya have been working together since 2011, when she was just 14 years old and still a Disney Channel star. On a new episode of TODAY with Hoda & Jenna, Roach dished on the pinky promise that’s kept them together for more than a decade.

“We made a pinky swear that I would do everything that I could do in my power and my reach to help her grow, and as she’d grow she would bring me along with her,” Roach said. “She kept her promise, and our loyalty together I think is something that is really not seen that much in this industry.”

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“Yeah, we just made a pinky swear,” he continued. “She was 14 and I was 16, and we’ve been together ever since.”

(For any fact-checkers out there, Roach was not, in fact, 16 years old in 2011, but 33. As youthful as he looks, though, we’ll let the lie slide.)

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The interview also touched on Roach’s temporary retirement from styling last year, including how Zendaya reacted. When one of the show’s hosts said that Roach didn’t actually retire, he fired back with, “I did!”

“I went away for seven months. Yeah, I didn’t do anything,” he continued. “I went through an entire grieving process of feeling guilty that I had let people down who believed in me and who looked up to me, and being depressed. It was an emotional rollercoaster.”

“I found out that the majority of who I was was what I did, and I went through that, and I came out of it, and: sunshine and happiness and joy,” Roach said. “I have the power to say no and just do the things that I want to do.”

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And how did Zendaya handle Roach’s stint of retirement? Patiently, he said — though not without bothering him to return and make red carpet magic.

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“Zendaya was calling every day. She said, ‘When are you coming back?’” Roach recalled. “I made it clear that I would always be there for her. I mean, that’s my sister.”

Ultimately, Roach said he’s glad he took time away from the industry.

“It’s important for us to step back. I think we’re rewarded for being exhausted and overworked. If you’re not almost on your deathbed, then you didn’t work hard enough,” Roach said. “I wanted to kind of step away from that and give myself some time.”

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