Zendaya’s Met Gala looks, ranked from least to most iconic

It’s almost time for fashion’s biggest night.

On May 5, celebrities will gather at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City for the 2025 Met Gala. The theme of this year’s annual fundraiser is “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” and it will celebrate menswear and dandyism.

Fashion enthusiasts are eagerly waiting to see what stars walk the Met Gala red carpet, and few celebrities’ looks will be as hotly anticipated as Zendaya’s if she attends the 2025 gala.

To date, Zendaya has attended six Met Galas and even co-chaired the 2024 event. Through her work with her stylist, Law Roach, Zendaya has become synonymous with high fashion.

Her Met Gala looks are some of her most memorable outfits, as she effortlessly embodies each year’s theme. Here are all of Zendaya’s Met Gala outfits, ranked from least to most iconic.

Zendaya’s sparkly dress for the 2016 Met Gala was beautiful, but it paled in comparison to her other Met Gala ensembles.

Zendaya wore a one-shoulder, gold gown to the “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology” Met Gala. Michael Kors designed the sparkly dress, which had a high neckline.

The dress had the futuristic feel the theme required for the event, and her dramatic eye makeup added to the vibe. However, Zendaya’s look wasn’t one of the night’s standout ensembles.

It looked like it could be worn to any red-carpet event, which isn’t ideal for a Met Gala ensemble. 

Zendaya stood out more at the 2017 gala, as she arrived in a parrot-patterned dress.

The 2017 Met Gala celebrated Rei Kawakubo’s avant-garde art through its “Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between” theme.

Zendaya arrived at the event in a yellow Dolce & Gabbana gown covered in red parrots and flowers. Red fabric flowed off the gown’s off-the-shoulder sleeves and train.

The traditional silhouette contrasted with the funky pattern, perfectly embodying the theme. Simple jewelry and dramatic hair and makeup completed the look.

At her first Met Gala in 2015, Zendaya nailed the “China: Through the Looking Glass” theme.

For her Met Gala debut in 2015, Zendaya wore a high-low Fausto Puglisi gown. The gown’s black-and-red color scheme and the suns adorning the skirt nodded to the gala’s theme.

Zendaya also wore a gold tiara with suns, making the look cohesive. She looked like a Met Gala veteran.

Zendaya wore two looks to the 2024 Met Gala, and the first was inspired by a 1999 Dior dress.

The 2024 Met Gala’s theme was “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” and it had a “The Garden of Time” dress code. As co-chair, Zendaya wore two looks on the Met Gala red carpet, first showing off a gown designed by John Galliano for Maison Margiela.

Based on a 1999 Dior gown, the blue and green dress featured an asymmetrical neckline and was adorned with leaves and grapes.

She wore a feathered headpiece with the ensemble and dark makeup, combining a gothic and floral aesthetic.

She arrived in a Joan of Arc-inspired outfit for the 2018 Met Gala that became one of the most memorable looks of the event.

At the “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination” Met Gala in 2018, attendees examined the interaction between style and Catholicism. Zendaya celebrated the theme by wearing a gown inspired by Joan of Arc, designed by Versace.

The figure-hugging dress was made of chain mail and had an armor overlay on her neck, shoulders, and waist. A train flowed off the long-sleeve gown, adding even more drama to the ensemble.

Zendaya also wore her hair in a short, red bob for the event, fully committing to traditional depictions of Joan of Arc.

Zendaya’s second dress for the 2024 Met Gala had a dramatic train.

After arriving at the 2024 gala, Zendaya changed into a 1996 Givenchy gown and walked the Met Gala red carpet again.

The black dress had off-the-shoulder sleeves, a full skirt, a subtle peplum, and a lengthy train.

The gothic dress contrasted with a headpiece Alexander McQueen designed in 2007 to look like a bouquet of flowers.

Zendaya’s second walk down the red carpet was iconic in and of itself, and the dramatic gown only added to the moment.

None of Zendaya’s Met Gala outfits could top her “Cinderella”-inspired dress for the 2019 event.

Many celebrities struggled with fashion choices for the Met Gala’s “Camp: Notes on Fashion” theme, but Zendaya and Law Roach nailed it in their Tommy Hilfiger ensembles.

Zendaya’s ball gown looked almost like a replica of Cinderella’s dress in the eponymous Disney film, which Roach said at the time was a nod to the start of Zendaya’s career on “Shake It Up.”

It had white puffy sleeves, a low-cut and structured bodice, and a full skirt. Zendaya wore her hair in Cinderella’s signature bun with a coordinating headband, completing her transformation into a princess. She even carried a small purse that looked like Cinderella’s carriage.

The dress featured an interactive element that made it perfect for the gala.

When Zendaya arrived at the gala, the gown was a pale shade of gray.

Roach, dressed in the likeness of the fairy godmother from “Cinderella,” then pointed a wand at Zendaya and lit the dress up so the skirt and bodice glowed from within, taking it to another level. 

Zendaya also left a glass slipper behind as she entered the gala, completing her performance as a Disney princess.

The look was everything a Met Gala ensemble should be: beautiful, unique, on-theme, and memorable. Plus, it served as a metaphor for the astronomical rise of Zendaya’s career from her Disney days to superstardom, offering the perfect cherry on top of the look.

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