We’re documenting each of her iconic Met ensembles, including the three (!) looks she wore to the 2024 Met Gala.
Date May 7, 2024
Do you hear that? It’s the sound of nature healing: Zendaya has returned to the Met Gala. The fashion force has not graced the steps of The Metropolitan Museum of Art on the first Monday of May since 2019 — and we’ve been starved for Zendaya Met Gala looks ever since.
It feels wrong, but it’s true. The past few Mets have been utterly Zendaya-less. It started in 2020, which was a no-go for obvious pandemic reasons. In 2021 and 2022, the star skipped out because of “work” obligations. (Sam Levinson, I blame you.) 2023 gave us many a surprise appearance — including Jared Leto’s life-sized cat costume and an undeniably photogenic roach — but still no Zendaya.
Zendaya’s Met Gala 2024 renaissance
The star’s attendance at the 2024 Met Gala was, blessedly, a given. As a co-chair alongside Jennifer Lopez, Chris Hemsworth and Bad Bunny, her consequential role at the event involved her being physically present, so no waiting on pins and needles to see if she’s show. (Ahem, Rihanna.) Vogue’s simulated group chat conversation confirmed it!
She and her legendary stylist Law Roach are currently on a sartorial hot streak with a slew of tennis-themed Challengers looks. So a big time serve (get it?) for fashion’s biggest night was inevitable. (Roach has even teased the idea of putting Zendaya in a life-size tennis ball, which would definitely be a choice.) Instead, we got two Zendaya looks on the 2024 Met Gala red carpet! (Scroll to the end to see both.)
Here, we round up all the Zendaya Met Gala looks (with the event’s corresponding dress codes) over the years.
2015: “China: Through the Looking Glass”
Photography by Getty Images
A star is born! For her first Met, Zendaya turned heads in an opulent celestial costume by Fausto Puglisi. The sculptural red mini-dress featured sun adornments and a long lavish train. In true mid-2010s fashion, it was accessorized with an unnecessary belt and spiky jewellery.
Not only did this look exude ethereal energy, but it laid the groundwork for her red carpet royalty status.
2016: “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology”
Photography by Getty Images
We, as a society, don’t talk about this Zendaya Met Gala moment enough. The Indie-sleaze smudgy eyeshadow! The extremely-risky-but-well-executed bowl cut! The opulent off-the-shoulder Michael Kors gown!
Together, her intricately embellished metallic dress with her symmetrical beauty look captured the machine-related musings of that year’s event.
2017: “Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between”
Photography by Getty Images
When Rihanna posts about your look, you know you’ve done good. At the 2017 Met, Zendaya tapped Dolce & Gabbana for a maximalist dress with a tropical parrot print. The over-the-top ballgown was lined in vermillion, making her stand out as a true slice of radiance on the red carpet.
Despite having spent the night before in the ER, she looked fresh as a daisy, sporting a peachy orange lip and a gorgeous afro. Sure, it might not have been exactly in line with the avant-garde theme, but sometimes a great look means breaking the rules. Sacrifices!
2018: “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination”
Photography by Getty Images
Some remember 2018 as the year of the royal wedding. I think of it as the year Zendaya cosplayed Joan of Arc. Keeping with the ball’s theme of religion-meets-fashion, Zendaya embodied the fearless French warrior and Roman Catholic Saint in a powerful Versace chainmail look. She completed the ensemble with dewy glam and a wavy red bob.
At the after-party, new levels of range were reached, with her changing into a vibrant harlequin skirt and an asymmetrical white top.
2019: “Camp: Notes on Fashion”
Photography by Getty Images
At the 2019 Met Gala, Zendaya donned one of her most famous red carpet looks ever. The “camp” theme encouraged guests to embrace out-of-the box styling via theatricality, exaggeration and irony. By becoming a princess, the star delivered.
Wearing a Cinderella gown by Tommy Hilfiger, she was joined by Roach, who orchestrated a mesmerizing transformation that caused her dress to light up. Later, the stylist explained that this moment was a metaphor for her graduating from Disney-star status to a grown-up career stage.
Photography by Getty Images
After leaving her glass heel behind on the carpet, she slipped into a chic lilac gown inside the event. As a result, a new era for the star was indeed established.
2024: “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion”
Photography by Getty Images
After months of serving us fashun with a capital F (thanks to the press tours for Dune: Part Two and Challengers), Zendaya knew she had to bring it to the Met Gala, and bring it she did, with not one but three looks! As one of the evening’s official co-hosts, the actress first walked the green and white carpet in a blue gown by Maison Margiela’s John Galliano. Fashionistas were quick to clock the dress as a reimagining of an archival look from Dior’s Spring 1999 collection (also designed by Galliano) and a perfect homage to the night’s “Garden of Time” dress code.
A few hours later, Zendaya re-emerged on the red carpet in a second look, this time pulling from the Alexander McQueen and Givenchy archives. The black ballgown was from Givenchy’s Spring 1996 Couture presentation (one of two collections that Galliano designed for the house) and was particularly special to Z because she was born that same year. And as if the decadent dress wasn’t enough, she topped it off with a bouquet-like headpiece made by Philip Treacy for the Alexander McQueen’s Spring 2007 runway.
zendaya wearing a custom celia kritharioti dress for her third look of the night, as she shared the stage with her fellow 2024 met gala co-chairs jennifer lopez, bad bunny and chris hemsworth pic.twitter.com/JyhcBEpPxd
— zendayacollective (@dayacollective) May 7, 2024
Then, at some point during the night, Zendaya needed to be able to actually walk and breath, so she changed into something a little more practical. While up on stage with her fellow Met Gala co-hosts, including Z unveiled her third look of the night, a custom Celia Kritharioti dress made of sparkly white fabric. If that name is ringing any bells, you’ll probably remember the designer as the mastermind behind the cystallized Challengers movie poster mini that the star wore in April. A true slay if we ever saw one!
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