Cast your mind back to summer 2019, a pre-Covid era when we were all hooked on Euphoria season one and the high school exploits of protagonist Rue, played by a scruffy Zendaya, all basketball shorts and tangled hair. Seven years on, her movie star trajectory is complete: the Disney tween alum has gone from drug-addled teen angst to Dune leading lady–and her wardrobe has evolved as much as her career.
With the help of Law Roach, Zendaya has established herself as one the best-dressed young talents of her generation. From Space Age Louis Vuitton minis to former creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli’s signature Valentino pink, trophy vintage to archive Mugler fembot suits, she’s done it all. All of which makes her latest looks appear almost… traditional? Perhaps she’s embracing a new aesthetic as a reported newlywed (Roach told a reporter at the SAG Actor Awards that Zendaya and her long-term partner Tom Holland had privately gotten married).
Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! this week, the newlywed leaned fully into spring territory in a floral McQueen dress that felt more English rose than avant-garde. Recently, Zendaya has been opting for bridal whites (appeasing the fans fiending for glimpses of a wedding look?), and swapped her Italian bob for a bixie cut. It follows the actor’s chic but understated brown Louis Vuitton dress for a surprise appearance on stage at the Oscars on Sunday night. Florals—the seasonal cliché we all know and love–suggest that she may be parking the fashion curveballs for the moment.
But Zendaya is still keeping it fun and fresh. Later on, she changed into another fresh-off-the-runway ’fit, this time a gray Moschino short suit. Unlike the runway iteration, Z kept the jacket open and her white button-down open to show some skin. Still, with the flowing tendrils hanging from her sleeves, she hasn’t lost that sense of romance.