“Designers have to fight to the death to dress you,” Kelly Ripa told Zendaya, the 27-year-old actress, as they discussed her preparations for this year’s Met Gala at a recent episode of ‘Live With Kelly and Mark’.
Zendaya flashed a knowing smile. Since she last attended the fashion extravaganza in 2019, she’s become not only a leading actress on screen (most recently, in the tennis romance “Challengers”), but also a red carpet force whose looks can almost wait as hot as the works meant To promote. Her dedicated style of dress has become “a tool for both image-making and money-making,” wrote Jessica Testa, a fashion reporter for the New York Times.
So it’s of great interest to red carpet watchers that Zendaya will return to the Met Gala on Monday for the first time in five years, this time as a co-chair. She will be styled by Law Roach, the “image architect” who has worked with her since she was 13. “We call each other fashion friends,” she told Vanessa Friedman in a recent interview.
Zendaya’s willingness to take fashion risks has been on display at her last five Met Gala appearances, which have included chain mail, parrots and a color-changing Cinderella dress with a pumpkin carriage bag. But climbing the stairs didn’t exactly get easier with practice, she told Ms. Ripa: “It’s still scary.”
Below, a look at Zendaya’s Met Gala history.
2019
“Camp: Notes on Fashion”
For the 2019 camp-themed gala, Zendaya went full Cinderella cosplay in a puffy ball gown with puffy sleeves by Tommy Hilfiger. She was transformed from gray to bright blue with the wave of a wand from Mr. Roach, who dressed up as her fairy godmother.
2018
“Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination”
Zendaya wore Versace armor to the 2018 Met Gala, featuring shimmering silver epaulettes, a sharp metallic collar and a plunging one-leg slit. The heavy gown was anchored by a wavy red bob with bangs.
Mr Roach said the inspiration for the look came while he was sleeping. “I dreamed about Joan of Arc one night and I called Versace and said, ‘What if we did something to reference Joan of Arc?’ he told WWD. “They came back with really, really great sketches.”
At the 2017 gala, Zendaya wore an off-the-shoulder Dolce & Gabbana dress with illustrations of parrots and flowers cascading down her tangerine and corn skirt. Our reviewer described it as a “Tropicana fantasy.”
2016
“Manus x Machina: Fashion in an age of technology”
Zendaya arrived at the 2016 Met Gala in a chic gold fabric column by Michael Kors with a stretch collar and one sleeve. Her eye makeup was reminiscent of gunmetal and her hair was in a shiny bun.
2015
“China: Through the Looking Glass”
Zendaya attended her first Met Gala when she was 18, just a few years after debuting on the Disney Channel dance show “Shake It Up.” She wore a Fausto Puglisi dress with a black bodice and short red skirt, adding a ribbon and sunburst wrist cuff to match.