Zendaya Surprises in Second Look at 2024 Met Gala: All About Her Dramatic Dress
Written by Rtradio on May 7, 2024
It’s not just Zendaya‘s character in Challengers that has a hard time choosing between two great options!
After being one of the first arrivals to the 2024 Met Gala carpet earlier in the night, the two-time Emmy Award winner, 27, returned to the beginning of the carpet to show off a second (and equally dramatic) look. While Zendaya’s first dress and accessories had a distinct dark fairy aesthetic, the second ensemble — a long black gown with a corseted top, a long train and a floral headpiece — felt more like something out of a Victorian novel.
The actress — who arrived early as she was one of the four celebrity co-chairs of the event — doubled back before the end of the carpet alongside her longtime friend, stylist and confidante Law Roach to show off yet another jaw-dropping gown, this one from Rita Watnick who spoke with ET about how the dress ended up in the Euphoria actress’ hands.
Watnick — who owns the Los Angeles boutique LILY et Cie — shared that the wheels in Roach’s head first began spinning several months ago but that the starlet who would go on to wear the gown had a first fitting merely a few weeks ago.
“We were discussing clothes, showing pieces, having a lovely time at the store and when he left, I actually had no idea that he’d found what he thought was the right dress for Zendaya,” she said of their first encounter with Roach, 45.
For the initial fitting, the store owner said, “It was nice, easy, fun, comfortable. She tried on one dress and then we waited about a week or so to find out that that in fact was what she wanted to wear.”
The dress, a Givenchy Haute Couture by John Galliano from the Spring Summer 1996 collection, stuck out to Roach who in turn showed it to Zendaya and saw the vision together. Watnick says that while she doesn’t typically work with stylists — she likes to work directly with the source themself — she was willing to make an exception for Roach and Zendaya who she says are fashion icons in the making.
“I think they’re really blazing a very incredible fashion landscape together,” she added. “They must be very much in consort with one another.”
While the dress itself held a story in its beauty and stature, to the LA boutique owner, she took a moment to acknowledge the extra special meaning she found in the choice to go with a piece from the 1995 Givenchy Haute Couture collection.
“The opening of that show was based on the Princess and the Pea and the looks were also informed by the court of Princess Eugenie Napoleon III and based on these really spectacular women at court,” she said. “I would call it actually a court dress and Zendaya will be holding court as will Law.”
While Roach shocked fans last week after declaring that he had not yet seen his muse’s gown — nor had it been made yet, he claimed — it now appears that he may have either been fibbing or speaking of the first gown only. In a profile with the New York Times, he shared that amid the craziness of Zendaya’s two box-office hit films, they were having a procrastination moment.
“I haven’t seen Zendaya’s dress,” Roach revealed at the time. “We’ve been on two press tours — Dune 2 and Challengers — and doing two Vogue covers. The dress isn’t even made. They won’t fit until Saturday.”
Entertainment Tonight will be on the iconic Met Gala red carpet, so keep checking back with ETonline for more coverage from fashion’s biggest night, including live updates and all of the jaw-dropping red carpet looks.
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