Zendaya Channels 'Challengers' in a Nearly 100-Year-Old Vintage Dress
The 1930s-era piece has been hanging her closet for almost a year.
Zendaya is busy promoting Challengers in New York City, packing eight outfits into two days of talk show appearances, fan meet-and-greets, and strolls for the paparazzi cameras. Her ninth look (that I've counted) broke with her pattern of modern custom pieces and runway vintage for a one-of-a-kind archival dress. Its age? Nearly one hundred years old.
Law Roach and Zendaya showed off their affinity for a fashion throwback with pieces that date to the 1930s. Her outfit, pulled out for a trip to the members' club Zero Bond on Wednesday, April 24, consisted of a semi-sheer midi dress in a wispy, flowy fabric with a ruffled jacket tied over the top. The star paired her dress with nothing but Gianvito Rossi sandals in a coordinating shade of green and a glowy, minimal beauty look.
Zendaya stopped by Zero Bond, a members' only club, wearing a chartreuse chiffon dress and Gianvito Rossi heels.
Sweet Disorder Vintage, a luxury consignment store, confirmed Law Roach pulled the piece for Zendaya almost one year ago. (The piece was first listed on Sweet Disorder's Instagram in June 2023.)
"Thank you @luxurylaw for seeing the beauty in this piece," the store's owner wrote in the caption of a post highlighting Zendaya's look. "It is a 1930s dress set found in an old trunk that I had hand-dyed the perfect shade of green."
A piece that looks very similar to Zendaya's sheer dress was posted on Sweet Disorder Vintage's Instagram nearly a year ago.
Archival pieces have been rare, but expertly deployed, on Zendaya's Challengers tour. In Paris, she paid homage to a local legend (and her brand contract) by wearing two looks from Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton collections. Those included a checkerboard coat dress from the Spring 2013 collection and a silky chartreuse set from the Spring 1999 lineup.
Then in London, Zendaya paid homage to Vivienne Westwood—another designer synonymous with the city's fashion scene—with a pinstriped, feather-tailed set from the 1994 Café Society collection.
Zendaya started her Challengers press stop in Paris with an archival Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton coat dress, pulled from the Spring 2013 collection.
Then in London, she wore a pinstripe set from Vivienne Westwood's Café Society collection.
Zendaya and Law Roach have incorporated vintage pieces into their "method dressing" approach on several press tours. Earlier this year, Dune: Part Two's fantastical sci-fi setting came to life with rarely-seen pieces by Mugler and Givenchy, among others.
But the pair haven't been afraid to play with brand-new items for Zendaya's Wimbledon-coded Challengers outfits, either. Much of the New York City stop has involved ready-to-shop pieces including Longchamp skirts, Tory Burch tennis sets, and Loewe T-shirts—plus custom items like a hooded Alaïa dress in tennis white.
Zendaya's New York City press appearances for Challengers have involved modern interpretations of tennis whites, including a hooded Alaïa dress.
All these looks are presumably leading up to one last red carpet before the nationwide Challengers premiere on Friday, April 26. Zendaya's century-old dress can't be replicated, but vintage-infused pieces by Rixo, Reformation, and more come close. Shop them below.
Shop Vintage-Inspired Dresses Like Zendaya's
