Law Roach, Kiki Layne Highlight the Serious Side of Fashion at InStyle Awards
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“I’m not supposed to be here,” stylist of the year honoree Law Roach told the well-heeled guests assembled Monday night for the 5th annual InStyle Awards. “Where I’m from, no one makes it to these rooms…and I stand here for two reasons right? One, that someone told me I was special; and two, that somebody gave me opportunity. And I think opportunity is so important to share.”
Roach continued, addressing the crowd, which included his muse & presenter Zendaya: “You hold the opportunity for somebody else, you hold the power to give someone an opportunity to change their life. And if you are a person of power or privilege, I beg of you to give that opportunity to someone does not look like you.”
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Likewise, Style Star honoree Kiki Layne noted the power receiving an award like hers represents.
“It’s no secret that historically for black women, especially black women of my complexion and my hair texture, this industry hasn’t always been the kindest to us, nor has it always left us the space to represent ourselves in the most authentic way,” Layne explained. She declared that her “authenticity is her activism” and added that it’s not by accident that she wears natural black hairstyles during her red carpet appearances, in hopes of showing little girls who look like her that they too belong.
While scores of stars — including honorees Christy Turlington Burns, Rodarte’s Kate and Laura Mulleavy, Adir Abergel and Daniel Martin and presenters Jennifer Garner, Jessica Alba, Kirsten Dunst, Amandla Stenberg and Amber Valletta and InStyle editor-in-chief Laura Brown — gathered for the exclusive party at the Getty Center to celebrate the year’s most stylish. The evening (with sponsors including Kate Spade, FIJI water and Maybelline New York) proved to be about much more than just fashion, as many of the night’s honorees shared powerful messages advocating for causes dear to their hearts.
Five members of the World Cup-winning U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team — Carli Lloyd, Ali Krieger, Ashlyn Harris, Alex Morgan and Kelley O’Hara — accepted the Badass Woman honor from Ellen Pompeo, who raised a toast to the women, saying “Here’s to us, the disruptors.” Accepting the honor on behalf of the team, Morgan pledged to “unapologetically continue to use our strength to advocate for social justice and equal pay for women everywhere.”
Accepting the Icon honor from her “Veep” co-star Tony Hale, Emmy-winner Julia Louis-Dreyfus also got serious.
“For women, style is complicated. It can be liberating and joyous when it’s artful and communicates something real and powerful and genuine and it can be an exploited drag when it does not,” Louis-Dreyfus admitted. “I’m five-foot-three on a good day. I don’t look like a model in a magazine. I work out constantly, I eat carefully to feel great, stay healthy. And the bonus is that with the help of my team’s hard work and a s— ton of smoke and mirrors, I can look pretty decent too and I guess I hope that that is something that regular-looking people, like myself, get a kick out of.”
But leave it to Bill Hader to lighten up the evening when picking up his “Man of Style” award — an acknowledgment that surprised no one more than the actor himself.
“This is hilarious I’m getting this award,” Hader laughed. “There used to be a Tumblr account called ‘Bill Hader Needs Clothes’ that’s 10 years old, it’s real. I would wear cowboy shirts on ‘David Letterman.’ You can watch on YouTube, David Letterman’s like, ‘You need to wear nice clothes.'”
The “Barry” star explained how and why he’s become so stylish in recent years, transitioning from casual looks to sleek, tailored suits. The reason for the change in style, he said, was turning 41 and beginning to lose his hair. Instead of doing something drastic like getting hair plugs, he simply hired stylist Mark Holmes, who cleaned out his closet.
“We’re all drunk, right? It just hit me as I got up here,” Hader cracked, acknowledging that he’d planned to make a quick acceptance speech for the “Man of Style” honor, but instead rambled along to a uproarious laughter before concluding his speech by thanking the make-up artist who covers up his balding areas.
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