Zendaya’s Best Met Gala Looks

It has been five years since Zendaya last graced the Met Gala's highly-anticipated fashion event. The 27-year-old superstar is set to co-chair this year's Met Gala, with the theme being "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion."

The ball's theme will "reactivate the sensory capacities of masterworks in the Museum’s collection through first-hand research, conservation analysis, and diverse technologies—from cutting-edge tools, artificial intelligence, and computer-generated imagery to traditional formats of x-rays, video animation, light projection, and soundscapes."

Hundreds of garments and accessories spanning four centuries will be presented by the stars, "visually united by iconography related to nature, which will serve as a metaphor for the fragility and ephemerality of fashion and a vehicle to examine the cyclical themes of rebirth and renewal." The dress code for the guests is called "The Garden of Time." It is inspired by a short story of the same title written by J.G. Ballard in 1962.

The 2024 Met Gala hosts joining Zendaya are Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny, and Chris Hemsworth. They follow last year's star-studded hosts: Penélope Cruz, Michaela Coel, Roger Federer, Dua Lipa, and Vogue’s Anna Wintour. Wintour has run the Met Gala since 1995.

The Gala is a highly exclusive fundraising benefit that serves as an opening celebration for the Institute's annual fashion exhibit. Following the event, the exhibition runs for several months. The 2024 Met Gala will take place on Monday, May 6, in New York City at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Zendaya has attended the Met Ball five times.

Zendaya has been a Zen-slaya on the red carpet for years. It seems fitting that the Challengers star’s name means “giving thanks” in the language of the African Shona tribe because that’s what we do every time we see her turn a piece of clothing into a work of art.

She was born Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman in Oakland, California, to teacher parents Claire Stoermer and Kazembe Ajamu Coleman on September 1, 1996. Her father is African-American, while her mother has German and Scottish ancestry; she is the youngest of five older siblings.

Z began her career as a child model working for Macy’s and Old Navy, and as a backup dancer before gaining prominence for her role as Rocky Blue on the Disney Channel sitcom Shake It Up. She made her film breakthrough in 2017, starring as Michelle “MJ” Jones in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017). Zendaya would reprise that role for the latter Spider-Man live-action films starring opposite her beau, Tom Holland.