If The Hunger Games saga ever needs an image architect for District 1, Law Roach's résumé would definitely be at the top of the application pile.
At least, that was Ziwe's gloriously subtle suggestion during an interview with the celebrity stylist. In her signature comedic, snarky style, the interview dove into a discussion of dressing some of the world's richest and most famous people. Next, it travelled through oligarchs, the proletariat, healthcare, and Panem.
You know, normal fashion interview territory.
Ziwe began by listing some of the high-profile figures Roach has dressed for the Met Gala, including Ariana Grande, Zendaya, Celine Dion, Anya Taylor-Joy, Hunter Schafer, and Addison Rae, before asking, 'Do you feel like you're dressing District 1 from The Hunger Games?'
Roach's response was less dystopian than expected.
'No,' he replied.
Unfortunately for him, Ziwe had another question that led to a hilarious interaction that defied the laws of standard interviews. However, rather than getting playfully roasted, Law Roach matched Ziwe's energy and brought enough heat of his own to keep the kitchen interesting.
Welcome to the Fashion Games
'What's your favourite part of helping some of America's biggest oligarchs look and feel their best?' she asked.
It was exactly the kind of question for which Ziwe has become famous: delivered with enough composure that deciding whether to laugh, defend yourself, or request a dictionary becomes part of the challenge.
Roach chose the latter route several times throughout their exchange. Ziwe, famous for being unfiltered in the best way, emphasised that oligarchs are 'really really rich people hoarding wealth at the top, off the backs of the proletariat.'
When it came to the larger point behind her question, the stylist eventually made his position relatively simple.
'My service is to dress people who can afford me to dress them,' Roach said.
And there it was. No complicated defence of wealth, no speech about fashion transcending class divides. If somebody can afford Law Roach, Law Roach can dress them.
When Ziwe continued pushing the point, Roach compared his profession to another service.
'I don't think people would go to a doctor and be turned away from medical treatment because they are wealthy,' he added.
Staying true to her persona, Ziwe followed up with: 'what other similarities do you have with doctors?', to which the celebrity stylist responded: 'I love exams. I love to recommend different cosmetic surgeries, as a doctor would.'
Styling a Met Gala gown and treating an illness may occupy slightly different positions on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, but Roach had made his argument. For him, the question was about providing a paid service rather than judging the size of the client's bank account.
Reddit Wants Someone to Fetch a Dictionary
The internet, naturally, had thoughts that they simply had to translate into commentary.
Viewers on Reddit were particularly fascinated by Roach repeatedly asking Ziwe to define terms throughout the conversation, including 'oligarch' and 'proletariat'. One commenter summed up the recurring bit simply: 'define, define, define'.
Another joked that Roach 'came out looking like he needs a dictionary', while one viewer compared the exchange to a spelling bee, where asking for the definition buys precious seconds to formulate an answer.
Others were simply delighted by Ziwe's interrogation style. 'She ate him up and left no crumbs,' one Redditor declared, while another admitted this was their first encounter with the comedian and wrote, 'I absolutely LOVE her'.
Evidently, new members were being inducted into the Ziwe fan club in real time.
Law Roach Is Not Entering the Arena
For all the Hunger Games imagery, Law Roach did not see any of the movies, but definitely loves Wicked.
His answer veered away from the Capitol manifesto and toward business policy: he provides a luxury service, and people who can afford it can hire him.
Ziwe, meanwhile, did what Ziwe does best. She took celebrity fashion, added class politics, sprinkled in some deliberately uncomfortable questions and waited to see what happened.
The deadpan sparring left Reddit debating Roach, wealth, and whether someone should keep a dictionary just outside the interview frame. When it comes down to it, Ziwe's interviews are notorious for making guests nervous, but clearly, Law Roach was too fabulous to break a sweat.
While he may not have had the opportunity to judge Katniss Everdeen's famous 'girl on fire' dress, he did take every chance to make a plethora of iconic statements from 'my pronoun is b*tch' to 'I like to gatekeep'.
May the definitions be ever in your favour.
