Law Roach and Jaime Xie are enlivening street style, one vintage look at a time

Celebrity style is all about the new. With performers already dipping their toes into spring 2022‘s wares and influencers filling their feeds with items that just hit stores, the latest developments are well-represented. Sure, vintage-loving stars like Bella Hadid, Kendall Jenner, and Miley Cyrus pepper their wardrobes with old-school looks, but it’s still easier to catch a glimpse of your favourite retro runway looks in a museum than it is to spot someone wearing them out in the real world. When everyone is wearing borrowed looks from the same three collections, it gets old fast.

That uniformity is precisely why the epic vintage looks worn by reality-star Jaime Xie stood out at fashion month. Though the Bling Empire star loves newer brands like Peter Do and Alessandra Rich, when it was time to head to Milan and Paris, Xie packed like a historian. Together with Hollywood image architect Law Roach, she revisited classic collections. For Roach, the choice reflected their commitment to sustainability. “Jaime and I are both vintage lovers, so us crossing paths was a godsend,” he shared on the phone from Los Angeles. “Recently, I’ve been putting vintage on a lot of my clients, and it’s just something that feels natural. Wearing vintage is one of the easiest ways to move forward sustainably, whether you’ve bought it at a thrift store, [the piece] was given to you by a family member, or you purchased it online.”

Xie’s wardrobe was informed by her favourite collections, among them Balenciaga spring 2008. She wore one of the now-iconic, sculpted neoprene mini-dresses to take in the designer’s latest for Louis Vuitton. At Dior, she pulled out a silk chiffon evening dress from John Galliano’s “Rasta-Mania” collection from spring 2004. A spot front row at Versace necessitated a throwback to the spring 2005 menswear show. Then, Dutch model Dewi Dreigen joined a pack of male models in a baroque slip dress with a built-in bustier and a slit a mile high; sixteen years later, Roach sourced it for Xie. Each look was different, but they shared an outré sensibility and emphasis on pattern. Roach gives Xie credit for embracing the boldness. “Jaime has quite the vintage collection, especially for someone so young,” he says. “Fashion comes first for her, and it’s been an interesting collaboration because of that. Sometimes when you work with an actor or singer, the clothes are secondary to the projects. With Jaime, fashion is at the forefront of who she is [as such] she’s willing to try anything and devotes the time to understanding style.”

For Roach, the opportunity to use clothing as an expression of self, rather than doggedly following trends, is part of what makes utilising vintage pieces so exciting. “It’s a reflection of the person,” he says. “Right now, you have items that are coveted on the resale market, like vintage Jean Paul Gaultier, Galliano, or pieces from Tom Ford’s era of Gucci. Those are incredible, of course, but you have to buy what feels right for you. My favourite look that Jaime’s worn recently was the Balenciaga she wore with the boots from the runway. I keep looking at the picture because it’s just so good, a wonderful homage to Nicolas, but it also encapsulates Jaime’s style. The connection she had to that piece was strong. It was the right girl in the right dress, at the right moment, but we’ve got plenty more in store.” Watch this space!

Below, Xie shares a closer look at her entire fashion month wardrobe and its inner workings.