While several dresses were reportedly considered almost until the last moment, Zendaya’s choice for the 2024 Met Gala ultimately fell on a custom haute couture look from John Galliano’s Maison Margiela Artisanal as well as an archive look surprise – also from Galliano.
In the hours before Challengers star and co-chair of the Met Gala arrived on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the rumor mill was in high gear about who she might wear. Several dresses were mentioned as contenders, a sign of the power Zendaya wields in the fashion industry.
But his choice effectively reflects the blend of 19th-century romanticism and modernity that Galliano creates like no other designer, with elements that subtly evoke the gala theme, “The Garden of Time.” The emerald green and electric blue dress is a custom design made of sage-hued organza and lamé, comprised of a duchess satin corset, with hand-painted metallic details, foil and organza layered draping and bow iridescent, and finished with one hand. -embroidered bodice.
The look is accessorized with a hat created by legendary milliner Stephen Jones for Maison Margiela, made with a hand-painted veil and accented with stockings, while Zendaya’s custom Tabi pumps are by Christian Louboutin for Maison Margiela. See all the looks from the 2024 Met Gala red carpet here.
Zendaya in John Galliano’s Maison Margiela Artisanal at the 2024 Met Gala.
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Later in the evening, Zendaya made a second surprise appearance on the red carpet in exactly one of those other dresses she’d been talking about as a Met Gala contestant.
This second look is from John Galliano’s first haute couture collection for Givenchy in January 1996 and was purchased at Lily et Cie, the famed Beverly Hills boutique beloved by style aficionados as a resource for museum-quality vintage fashion.
Rita Watnick, founder of Lily et Cie, tells THR that Zendaya’s celebrity stylist, Law Roach, arrived at her store in March, just before the Oscars.
Zendaya attends the 2024 Met Gala celebrating “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 6, 2024, in New York.
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“I thought he was looking for another option [for Zendaya] for the Oscars, and when he left, he didn’t say a word of what he thought,” recalls Watnick, who has curated every piece found at Lily et Cie since it opened its doors in 1979 “But we had a wonderful time. and shared a wonderful conversation about art and other stories. And then he sent me the most beautiful flower arrangement that almost filled an entire window; it was such a gesture of kindness and friendship, and I was…
