From spiderwebs to bridal gowns: Here are Zendaya’s most iconic press tour looks recapped

If there’s one thing Zendaya and her stylist, Law Roach, are going to do, it’s deliver on a red carpet.

The pair have become the definitive modern pioneers of “method dressing” – the art of matching a star’s wardrobe to the themes and narratives of whatever project they’re promoting.

So here are some of Zendaya’s most iconic looks that have had the internet in a chokehold.

Spider-Man – Spiderwebs, but make it high fashion

via ANGELO CARCONI/EPA/Shutterstock

If there’s a throughline to Zendaya’s Spider-Man press tours, it’s that she and Law have found increasingly elegant ways to reference a spiderweb without ever looking like she’s in costume.

For the Los Angeles stop on the Far From Home press tour, Zendaya wore a geometric red and black sequin Armani gown. Law described this LA look as what Spider-Man’s suit would look like “if Spider-Man were a girl.”

For No Way Home in 2021, she arrived at the Los Angeles world premiere in a sheer custom Valentino gown covered entirely in black spiderweb embroidery, paired with a spiderweb lace mask. At the London photo call, she wore an oversized Alexander McQueen blazer embellished with a crystal spiderweb design, thigh-high boots to match, and spiderweb earrings.

Brand New Day took the concept somewhere more refined. In Rome, she wore an archival sheer black Giorgio Armani dress from the designer’s Spring 1990 collection – the silver beading creating the illusion of delicate spiderwebs across the fabric, elegant rather than on-the-nose.

In London, my personal favourite, she stepped out in a blue archival John Galliano slip dress, letting a sparkling spiderweb body chain do the talking rather than over-accessorising. Both looks proved that after several Spider-Man press tours, she and Law are still finding new ways to make the same theme feel completely fresh.

Challengers – Zendaya served, and we mean that literally

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Zendaya in Sydney Challengers premiere🤩✨ #Zendaya #challengersmovie #Sydney #zendaya

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For Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers, Zendaya leaned fully into the tennis world her character inhabits. The Australian premiere look was a custom Loewe gown designed by Jonathan Anderson, who also costumed the film, featuring a tennis player and ball motif.

At the London premiere, she wore a white sequined halter dress by Thom Browne, with a tennis racket motif. The whole press tour essentially invented tennis-core as a fashion moment, and the internet has not recovered since.

Dune – From sand-coloured leather to a chrome cyborg suit

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Zendaya and Law’s Dune press tours across both films represent arguably their greatest sustained achievement. For part one in 2021, they were fully committed to the movie’s desert and warrior themes.

At the Venice Film Festival premiere, she walked the carpet in a custom wet-look Balmain gown; its sand-coloured leather moulded to her body for a sculpted, draped effect that felt like it belonged on Arrakis itself.

Part two took things somewhere more otherworldly. The looks were futuristic, desert-chic, and completely unhinged in the best possible way. The standout – and one of the most talked-about red carpet moments in recent memory – was the archival 1995 Thierry Mugler chrome cyborg suit she wore at the London premiere. It looked like it had been built for her specifically.

At the New York premiere, she wore a cream and gold Stéphane Rolland couture gown and, in Mexico City, a custom Bottega Veneta cropped turtleneck and high-slit skirt. Every single look was a talked-about moment.

The Drama: Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue

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♬ All For Us – Labrinth & Zendaya

For one of her more recent press tours, Zendaya took method dressing to a new conceptual level. With The Drama centred on a wedding gone wrong, she dressed across all four wedding traditions.

“Something old” was a white Vivienne Westwood gown she had previously worn at the 2015 Oscars. “Something new” was a custom Louis Vuitton dress with an oversized black bow. “Something borrowed” was a Giorgio Armani Privé dress loaned to her by Cate Blanchett.

And “something blue” was a black and blue Schiaparelli gown at the New York premiere. The entire concept was so well executed that it felt less like a press tour and more like a performance piece.

The Odyssey: A dress that took its own odyssey to get there

via James Veysey/Shutterstock

The dress itself was worth the logistics: A moulded white porcelain-effect bustier with a mirrored fringe skirt described by Schiaparelli as “illuminated from within,” paired with over 88 carats of diamonds from Chopard’s Haute Joaillerie Collection and waist-length waves replacing her recent bixie cut.

Playing a goddess, dressing like one – Law and Zendaya remain undefeated.

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Featured images via ANGELO CARCONI/EPA/Shutterstock and James Veysey/Shutterstock