Hollywood’s top stylists to the stars came together on Thursday morning for a lively discussion on the growing importance of diversity in the fashion industry. Panelists were Joan Reidy, Ade Samuel, and Law Roach – all stylists backed by The Only Agency –and the agency’s Founder and CEO Kent Belden. Chrissy Rutherford, Senior Digital Fashion Editor of Harper’s Bazaar, moderated the conversation, wearing a stunning bright yellow Victor Glemaud dress.

Held at The Gallery at Hotel 50 Bowery, the room was packed with industry members eager to discuss the important issue of diversity, or lack thereof, and the panelists addressed the topic head-on. Law Roach, who took a break from styling Ariana Grande for her world tour, was candid about his long, difficult journey to the top of the industry, while Joan Reidy recounted personal experiences about her experience fighting for representation in new markets. Here are highlights:

On being one of the few black stylists at the top of the industry:  

“I have this burden I’m happy to carry, to show this industry that people who look like me can work at a certain level. I still feel like I’m proving to other people, brands, and corporations that it’s okay to let a brown boy do the same job as a white woman. I’m still in these places and situations where I’m the first and the only. For me, that has become hard. I don’t want to be the only one.

I’ve started this hashtag #morethanone. There has to be more than being the only one in the room, and I’ve had to be comfortable with being the only one. How do we change the perception of who is worthy and who is able? It’s not about me anymore. As a stylist, I’ve done everything I want to do. Now it’s about the people who come behind me, and making sure they get these opportunities.”

– Law Roach

“He works very diligently and is now in the place where he has the power to pick hair and makeup people on jobs and support hair and makeup artists to ensure that there is representation.” – Kent Belden

On fighting for a more diverse range of clients:

“They put us in a box. There is this comfort level where you hire a black stylist to work with a black talent. I try not to be pigeon-holed. It’s difficult. As a black stylist, I need diversity within my roster of talent that I work with. I don’t want people to assume that’s the only race I can work with. I am someone who understands diversity from the way I grew up. Because I’m a stylist, my job is to create art on a human form. That doesn’t mean it has to be a black woman or a female or a specific type of race. I’m still fighting that fight.”

– Ade Samuel

On his earliest career regret:

“I skipped a few steps in my career. I was never an assistant or intern; I kind of just came to Hollywood and figured it out. I was making a lot of money and I thought that was what the industry was about. The first agency meeting, they looked at my portfolio and they turned their nose up. I was working with all black girls, legendary black girls, and I was proud of that. I’m from south side Chicago, so I thought I had made it. When I left this meeting, this agent made me feel like my work wasn’t good enough.

I went back to my manager and said I can’t do any more black girls. I was making $7,500 – $10,000 a day, and I left that to work with someone to make $750 a day. I hate myself for letting these people make me feel like what I was doing wasn’t enough, but also, I don’t think if I hadn’t made that choice, I wouldn’t have the portfolio of clients I have now. I am probably the African American stylist in Hollywood with the most diverse roster of clients. That choice still haunts me, but that is the business we work in. They will make you feel like they are not enough. Now I teach people figure out your niche and market.”

– Law Roach

On educating others on diversity and inclusion:

“Don’t just call it out. Have a conversation or a dialogue. I think insulting people just shuts people down, and I think we’re in a really loud time right now where that’s the default. It doesn’t help, it’s not going to grow, and it’s not innovative. When I’m with clients and I see things that aren’t right, I’ll push them. I’ll just say, ‘I know why you don’t think you need to have more Asian models in your runway show, but you do. There are repercussions to your actions, and I’m going to tell you what they are.’ Nine out of 10 times, they swing back around. No one likes bad press or wants to be called a racist.”

– Joan Reidy

On attracting new clients:

“I’m lucky that my work is a bit different. I think people who want to work with me do so because I have this flair, I would say. We get a lot of people that call just asking for me. It’s not through publicists or managers. I still don’t get recommendations from publicists. I get people who call Kent and say ‘I want to work with Law,’ or I get a DM. I’m still not in a club where the agent or studios pitch new girls to me. It’s my job to make other people comfortable with us being in the room.”

– Law Roach

On calling out inequality when you see it:

“You need to say that’s not correct, and you need to call out the designers and let them know who the consumer is. If those brands are so open to be designers in this world, they have to know what the world looks like. I’m very keen to call them out and allowing people to say ‘cancelled’ and onto the next. That’s what’s going to create the change we need, and that’s the role as a stylist that I play. Finding out who are the designers that support us, and giving them the shine that they deserve.”

– Ade Samuel

On his role in the recent TOMMY x ZENDAYA Show during Paris Fashion Week:

“I applaud Tommy Hilfiger and that brand for allowing that to happen. We didn’t do it to be controversial or for the politics, we did it out of love. We wanted to pay homage to Black women. I started noticing the Claudia Schiffers and Shalom Harlows were getting opportunities and being brought back into the industry, but that’s not happening to our girls. Any time a person puts me in a position of power, I’m going to do whatever I can to make sure we are represented. I’m at a place where I work because I want to, not because I have to.”

– Law Roach

On creating change and expanding the conversation around diversity:

“I think a lot of the time, there is a fear to ask questions and learn, especially when it comes from races other than black. In the space we’re in now in society, it seems as though it’s just black and white. I feel like everyone needs a call-to-action and to ask questions and understand why we are having this conversation in 2019. Why do we have this diversity problem? What can I do to change it? If you can sit down and ask the people you work with questions, you’ll understand a little more to create the change that needs to happen.”

– Ade Samuel