The 2024 Met Gala is fast approaching, and with confirmation that Zendaya will be making her triumphant return to the iconic steps, fans couldn’t be more excited.
On the first Monday in May, a host of A-list stars will gather at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to celebrate the opening of the Costume Institution’s spring exhibit, entitled: Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.
As always, the exhibit dictates the dress code that all attendees are expected to abide by on the red carpet, and this year the strict theme is “Garden of Time.”
For better or worse, it’s up to each guest — and their stylist — to decide how they wish to interpret this brief. Although four people we expect to nail the theme are this year’s co-chairs: Jennifer Lopez, Chris Hemsworth, Bad Bunny, and finally, Zendaya, who’s attending the event for the first time in five years.
Of course, Zendaya being named a co-chair was hardly surprising given that she’s provided fans with some of the Met’s most memorable looks over the years — starting with her first appearance on the famous steps in 2015.
Only 18 at the time, Z made her Met debut in a custom Fausto Puglisi gown, inspired by that year’s exhibit, China: Through the Looking Glass.
In 2016, she opted for a more dramatic look in keeping with Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology, sporting a golden, asymmetric Michael Kors dress paired with a short, brown hairstyle.
The 2017 exhibit honored the work of Comme des Garçons’ Rei Kawakubo, and Z turned heads in a parrot-print Dolce & Gabbana gown — which remains one of her most iconic looks to date.
And the following year, she pulled it out of the bag yet again in a chainmail-inspired Atelier Versace dress, which was inspired by Joan of Arc for the theme, Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.
The last time Zendaya attended the Met was in 2019 when she memorably wore a Cinderella-inspired Tommy Hilfiger gown that lit up on the red carpet — very much in keeping with the “Camp” dress code.
And as for her next look after a five-year hiatus? Zendaya has teased a little, but she’s keeping her cards close to her chest.
During an interview with Vogue released last week, Z said she had “no idea” what she’d be wearing, telling the outlet that she and her longtime stylist, Law Roach, were “still figuring it out.”
However, speaking to E! News last night at the LA premiere of her new movie, Challengers, the 27-year-old hinted that things are starting to come together, saying: “We have some ideas.”
And while she didn’t divulge more than that, Zendaya said that she expects her return to the ball to be “very special.”
Earlier this week, Z poked fun at the hype surrounding her Met return by reposting a fan-made edit of a potential tennis ball-inspired gown for the red carpet — of course, leaning into her string of viral tennis-inspired looks for the Challengers press tour.
Well, the countdown is officially on, and we can’t wait to see what Z and Law come up with.
