Queen of the red carpet mic drop Zendaya seemed to have been reading from the same style playbook as her Dune co-star Timothée Chalamet at the Oscars 2022. While Timothée went shirtless underneath his beaded Louis Vuitton suiting, Zendaya wore a Valentino silk blouse so minuscule it rivalled Miu Miu’s viral sexy preppy looks of the season. The question at the Academy Awards was not “who are you wearing?”, but “is shirt off sick?”
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Zendaya’s micro Valentino haute couture button-up and silver sequined skirt drew comparisons to Sharon Stone’s 1998 Oscars get-up, which saw her famously rip up the rulebook in a men’s shirt tucked nonchalantly in a pearlescent satin skirt. From one red carpet risk-taker to another, Zendaya’s looks – from her literal nods to Spider-Man to her tribute to Black legend Eunice W Johnson – always have a referential spin thanks to her storyteller stylist Law Roach. Her sophisticated nod to Stone singles her out as a fashion plate with something to say yet again.
Read more: Oscars 2022 Red Carpet
The actor’s shimmering Valentino separates also served as a curveball for anyone who expected Daya to command the spotlight in another Stabilo-highlighter look from creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli. Remember the sunflower-yellow Valentino gown she wore to last year’s Academy Awards? It was the biggest wow moment of the night thanks to her mermaid hair blowing in the wind and the enormous Bulgari rock around her neck. This year’s look shows a grown-up side to the star who has come of age in the spotlight. If Zendaya uses her clothes as words, her Oscars 2022 ensemble says this is a woman who will keep surprising – and delighting – us.
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