Zendaya Brings the Drama in a Completely Unexpected Jewel-Tone Gown at the 2024 Met Gala

She’s back!

After five long years, Zendaya made her long-awaited return to the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art tonight—this time as a first-time co-chair for the annual Met Gala. To honor this year’s dress code, “The Garden of Time,” the superstar teamed up with her longtime stylist and close collaborator, Law Roach, to deliver an eternally stylish look that will go down in Met Gala fashion history.

The Challengers star opted for an incredible Maison Margiela Artisanal by John Galliano creation, based on a 1999 Dior dress. The one-shouldered gown featured a long trumpet skirt covered in royal-blue and emerald-green diagonal stripes, as well as fruitlike embellishments adorning one side of the waist. She upped the ante with a net mesh and tulle-feathered fascinator.

The actor last attended the Met Gala in 2019, when she honored the year’s “Camp: Notes on Fashion” theme in a light-up ball gown designed by Tommy Hilfiger. The look took inspiration from the iconic dress worn by Cinderella in Disney’s animated 1950 film (and Roach even showed up alongside her, dressed as Cinderella’s fairy godmother).

But Zendaya had been topping Met Gala best-dressed lists for years prior to that moment. Some of her other most memorable looks include a chainmail Versace gown that paid homage to Saint Joan of Arc, a vibrant Dolce & Gabbana ball gown covered in a tropical floral-and-parrot print, and a bodycon Michael Kors dress entirely bedazzled with reflective gold rhinestones.

“I like to look at fashion as creativity,” Zendaya said in a recent interview on Live With Kelly and Mark. “Even in press tours, it’s a way to continue the creativity from the film. I like to just create characters. … You get to embody this character for the day, and clothes can do that for you.”

Chelsey Sanchez

Editor

Chelsey Sanchez is an editor at Harper’s Bazaar, where she writes about any and all things related to culture and entertainment. Previously, she has covered pop culture and politics for outlets like The Atlantic, Flaunt, and The Indypendent. She feels very strongly about Jane Austen adaptations.