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Tiffany Haddish's 2018 Emmys Stylist Law Roach Reacts to the Rainbow Memes

The first-time Emmy winner sparked an instant fashion moment when she stepped out in her custom Prabal Gurung gown.

By Samantha Schnurr Sep 18, 2018 8:55 PMTags
Watch: Tiffany Haddish - 2018 Emmys Glambot

It was hard not to notice Tiffany Haddish on the 2018 Emmys red carpet. After all, she was twirling in a rainbow-colored dress. 

Much like when she wore an authentic Eritrean dress to the 2018 Oscars in honor of her late father, the comedian had all eyes on her as she confidently posed along the carpet in a multi-colored vibrant and airy chiffon gown custom-made by Prabal Gurung. As the first-time Emmy winner proudly showed off the design, the star exuded joy—and that was the point.  

"It really all stems from Tiffany's personality," her stylist Law Roach told E! News exclusively of the inspiration for the dress. "She said that she wanted to do something that paid tribute to her Eritrean roots, so the colors are the colors of the Eritrean flag, but more so than that, we wanted to kind of have a dress that represented love and happiness—just parts of her personality and she's so grateful to be in the place she is now in her career, so we just wanted to do something f--king fun and not really care what anybody thought about it."

As the celebrity stylist noted, "What's more fun and what's a greater symbol of love than, like, a rainbow? That's really what the reference was—just happiness and joy."

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The gown took about a week to make. "Prabal was so amazing because you know he had so much going on with his show for [New York] Fashion Week—to still kind of take the time to work with us and make the gown," Roach said. 

Needless to say, Haddish twirling in her dress instantly became a viral fashion moment. 

"That is just who she is. That is her personality," Roach said. "That's what we're coming to expect from Tiffany—you know, fun. She's always going to have a laugh and I think one of the biggest things for me...I never—and hopefully this shows up in my work—I never try to change any of my clients. I just try to elevate who they already are and so, who else could have worn this dress other than Tiffany Haddish?"

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In the digital age we're living in, the dress also became an instant online sensation, spurring memes that compared the gown to similarly colorful things, like a gym class parachute, umbrella and Rainbow Brite. 

Had Roach seen any of them? "I've seen them all and I agree with all of them!" he told E! News. In fact, he welcomes the chatter. 

"I think fashion is supposed to be polarizing," he said. "I don't dress my clients expecting everyone to love everything that I do. It's supposed to be polarizing. It's supposed to spark a conversation.That's the importance of fashion and I love the memes. I love the Rainbow Brite memes. It's great. I love the big top of the circus memes because it all fits into—she's a comedian. It all fits into her brand and who she is and I don't want people to think that prior to picking that dress that I wouldn't know that there would be memes. Of course I know there would be memes, but I invite that. I invite the conversation."

"Who's going to forget Tiffany Haddish's Emmys 2018 dress?" he asked. "No one's going to forget it and it will be part of her legacy and mine as well."