Zendaya’s stylist Law Roach said he had to train the actor how to walk in “painful” Louboutin heels.
As the 27-year-old actor has committed to fully “method dressing” as she promoted Dune: Part Two and Challengers, she has consistently donned the Christian Louboutin So Kate 120 pump with the majority of her ensembles. The red-bottomed heels have been a mainstay in the Emmy winner’s wardrobe for years.
In a recent episode of Recho Omondi’s podcast The Cutting Room Floor, Roach revealed why the Euphoria star prefers wearing the iconic footwear brand. He started his story, by saying: “So, I think that the So Kate is one of the most versatile shoes. It’s also one of the most painful.”
“It actually started when she was like 14, and I remember she had these So Kates on all day,” he continued. “It’s the first time she’d ever worn them, and she was collapsing. And she’s like, ‘I have to take these shoes off.’ I’m like, ‘You will not take these shoes off.’ And she kept them on, and the next day she put them on again, and the next day she put them on again.”
By sticking with the heels, the actor eventually learned to love them.
“It kind of became our thing,” Roach admitted. “And now, her feet are just kinda like trained. She could wear them all day, she could dance in ’em, she could kick her legs up, she can run down stairs.”
When asked if the reason she wore the heels was because of a sponsorship with Christian Louboutin, Roach was quick to refute any rumours or speculation.
“People always ask this—we get no monetary anything from Christian Louboutin,” he explained. “They have never wrote us a check. It has always been a really authentic, organic relationship that she just loves the shoes.”
However, if anything, there has been a bit of a symbiotic relationship between the actor and the brand, with the latter having sent about 40 pairs of their heels to her for her Challengers press tour.
“Now, did they just send me 40 pairs for the Challengers press tour? They did,” Roach noted. “But, they never—there’s never been any type of pay-for-play, any type of sponsorship, anything. I actually became really good friends with Christian because of it, and I know his team globally. And if we need one in a crunch situation, they’ll call the store, they’ll do whatever to get her the shoe, because it’s become so synonymous with her.”
Roach added that the primary reason the actor has gravitated towards the iconic heels has simply been because she likes them. He added, “[They’re] just great with everything.”
Elsewhere on the podcast episode, the stylist revealed that there were several big-name brands that refused to send Zendaya clothes when she was first coming up in Hollywood.
“I would write [to] Saint Laurent, Chanel, Gucci, Valentino, Dior and they would all say: ‘No, try again next year. She’s too green. She’s not on our calendar,’” Roach recalled. “I still have all the receipts. I still have everything.”
Even though the Disney Channel alum had landed her first American Vogue cover in 2017, none of those five major labels had worked with her. Roach admitted that it was only when she landed a contract with Valentino in 2020 that she began to wear their designs.
