Zendaya, co-chair of the 2024 Met Gala, has just arrived in New York City for the annual fashion benefit. Twenty-four hours before ascending the Metropolitan Museum of Art's famed steps with stylist Law Roach, the Challengers star is already proving she understands this year's theme better than any other attendee.
On Sunday, May 5, Zendaya arrived at the Met Gala's co-chair dinner in a piece perfect for the "Garden of Time" dress code. It's vintage—an archival number coming from John Galliano's Fall 1998 collection—and it's dotted with tiny pink flower embellishments.
Zendaya's midi-length gown featured a sheer overlay set with a pink bow and floral details at the neckline, plus a woven floral effect through the skirt. She paired the piece with white pumps—her favorite Louboutins that appeared throughout the Challengers press tour, most likely. Her beauty also channeled the start of spring, with a bright pink lip and rosy cheeks.
A dress that hasn't been seen in decades is perfect for the first of two events honoring this year's Costume Institute exhibit. The Metropolitan Museum's "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" collection will gather archival fashion from over 400 years of style history.
Law Roach sourced the piece from Aralda Vintage, a Los Angeles-based boutique that many A-list stylists visit to source rare looks for their clients. "Aralda Vintage for the win again," Roach wrote on an Instagram Story.
In the lead-up to the 2024 Met Gala, Zendaya and Law Roach have flexed their archival connections for the star's back-to-back press tours. Promoting Dune: Part Two, the pair dipped into the Mugler and Givenchy archives for cyborg-couture outfits. Then for Challengers, they reinterpreted tennis whites with vintage Vivienne Westwood and Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton (among dozens of other looks).
Zendaya's packed schedule has kept her from the Met steps for nearly half a decade. The last time she appeared was in 2019, for the "Camp: Notes on Fashion" installment. On that occasion, she and Roach made Met Gala history by dressing as Cinderella and her fashion fairy godmother in light-up Tommy Hilfiger looks.
After a five-year hiatus, anticipation couldn't be higher for the co-chair's 2024 Met Gala look. Whatever Zendaya wears will be a feat of fast tailoring and impeccable styling. According to a recent New York Times interview with her image architect (Roach), her dress hadn't been fitted until Saturday, May 4.