Zendaya has had aces up her sleeve during the Challengers press tour.
The actress has been globe-trotting to promote the film, in theaters on April 26, and once again, her style takes center stage. Guided by longtime stylist Law Roach, Zendaya’s serving tenniscore at its finest, down to woven wool felt balls on her shoes. Think lots of whites, a bounce of yellow-green hues and shimmering silvers.
It’s on point, of course. The Dune: Part Two and Euphoria star plays a former tennis prodigy turned coach in a love triangle with two tennis pros, played by Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist. The film is directed by Luca Guadagnino.
Milan photo-call
Zendaya wore a white halter minidress along with white heels on April 14. The dress was originally modeled by Cindy Crawford at the Ralph Lauren show during New York Fashion Week in 1991. The model applauded the actress’s vintage look on social media.
Zendaya let her hair down for the event and went light on jewelry. (All the jewelry for the press tour is courtesy of Bulgari, for which she’s a brand ambassador.)
Milan TV appearance
While appearing on the talk show Che Tempo Che Fa on April 14, Zendaya wore a box cut white dress with a balloon skirt. The dress appeared to be terry cloth, a favorite fabric in tennis, and she paired it with white heels.
Monaco tennis match
On April 13, Zendaya wore two different outfits to the Monte-Carlo Masters tennis tournament, looking right at home in both sets of whites. The first was a re-creation of an outfit worn by Althea Gibson — the first Black tennis player to win a Grand Slam — made by Swiss sportswear brand On.
Zendaya wore the sleeveless white polo and pleated skirt with white sneakers. At the event, she made an outfit switcheroo, also wearing a white sweater and cream-colored skirt.
London photo-call
Zendaya wore vintage Vivienne Westwood Gold Label from 1994 on April 11. The red-and-blue striped vest was mostly unbuttoned, and the suit skirt featured a white feather bustle. Her hair was styled in a ponytail with face-framing bangs. White stilettos, again, served as her go-to heels.
London premiere
Zendaya would turn heads at the tennis club in this custom Thom Browne white halter dress. The dress featured embroidered tennis rackets, while the skirt had netting in the pleats. She had a bow in her hair and a very Anna Kournikova braid down her back. Diamond earrings and a tennis bracelet added sparkle.
Rome premiere
Zendaya wore all white everything, centering around a custom Calvin Klein skirt suit — which touched the floor and featured a high leg slit — for the April 8 event. Under the blazer was nothing but a diamond serpent necklace. She also wore diamond earrings, rings and a snake ring. On her feet? Louboutins.
Rome photo-call
Zendaya served up a dress modeled on what a pro might wear — with pleats on the bottom — but it was a shimmery silver with a deep dipping V-neck. Completing the custom Loewe outfit was a true pièce de résistance: white pumps with tennis balls pierced by the heels.
Paris premiere
On April 6, Zendaya floated onto the red carpet in custom Louis Vuitton — a white strapless fitted bodice with a flowing chiffon skirt. The look was accessorized with a leather belt and, yes, more diamonds.
Paris photo-call
For an April 6 photo-call, Zendaya bounced in wearing tennis ball green (or is it yellow?): a shirt — that was mostly unbuttoned — and pants set from Louis Vuitton by Marc Jacobs’s 1999 spring collection. She toted a purse of the same hard-to-pull-off hue, along with strappy silver platform stilettos.
Paris photo-call
The fashion trifecta in the City of Light was capped off with another Louis Vuitton by Marc Jacobs look, from 2013. It’s a green-and-white checkered coat hitting the thigh — with white pumps. Zendaya also wore a white headband with a bow.
Sydney premiere
Zendaya tipped us off to her style game plan, wearing a different custom Loewe dress on March 26 as the press tour kicked off Down Under. That one was a playful sparkling green, with a generous leg slit, featuring a tennis racket and ball design. The shoes were the same color, and the diamond earrings were triple-tiered.
Fashion inspiration
In the May issue of Vogue, Zendaya said she takes a page from Beyoncé when it comes to being a fashionista on the red carpet and during photoshoots, creating her own style-slaying alter ego.
“She’s a different being that comes into me — my own Sasha Fierce,” she said. “She takes over and she does the carpet.” It’s something she mentally commits to, saying, “I have to buy her. I have to buy that this woman exists, or that this fantasy exists.”
Roach — who has long elevated Zendaya’s fashion game — told the outlet after Zendaya’s head-turning Dune: Part Two tour that, similar to character acting, “We adopted method dressing. The looks served as an extension of the wardrobe from the movie; it was intentional and purposeful.”
While there is no shortage of reactions to everything Zendaya’s serving up on the carpet, “We never work based on what we think somebody’s reaction is going to be,” Roach said. “I always try to be a storyteller more than anything else.”
