The Met Gala is less than three months away and Vogue today announced this year’s co-chairs. They are: Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny, Chris Hemsworth, and…
ZENDAYA.
Before we get into the rest of it, I apologise in advance, because I’m about to boast. It will be annoying, so I understand if you leave, but I can’t help myself, humility is not one of my gifts.
On the second day of this year, January 2, 2024, in a post about Zendaya anticipating her year ahead, I wrote that she would be doing promotion for Dune: Part 2 and Challengers and that the timing was perfect:
“…there will definitely be a few magazine covers, it’s just a matter of which publication will be lucky enough to land her. It’s been a minute since she covered American Vogue – and I mention American Vogue in particular because… Zendaya, who has become a Met Gala highlight, has never co-chaired the Met Gala.
The Met Gala is happening just a couple of weeks after the release of Challengers and Zendaya skipped the Met Gala 2023. This year’s theme was announced late last year – “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion” – but the hosts have not yet been confirmed. The timing works out well. Putting her on the cover of American Vogue for the March, April, or May issues works out well too. I have a hard time believing that Anna Wintour would not have had Zendaya on her Met Gala co-chair wish list.”
Just to be extra obnoxious, I’m going to screencap that for you:
OK I’m done gloating, now let’s just scream together in anticipation.
ZENDAYA IS CO-CHAIRING THE MET GALA, WE ARE SAVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We are talking about the woman who shuts it down, every single time, including every time she shows up to the Met Gala. Imagine, then, what she’s going to bring when she goes to the party as one of the co-chairs?! What are she and Law Roach planning? Are we even worthy of knowing what’s in their minds? The answer is no, but don’t think for a second that Law isn’t already on it. He understands better than anyone else how people respond to Zendaya’s looks, the impact that they have made together on the industry. No pressure, no pressure at all. But f-ck, I don’t ever want to experience that kind of pressure.
As noted, the Met Gala theme this year is “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion”. Which means that, yes, someone or many people, are probably going full Disney. Per Vogue, though, that’s missing the point. Remember, the Met Gala supports the Costume Institute and this year’s exhibit is “the celebration of clothing and fashion so fragile that it can’t ever be worn again—and are thus sleeping beauties in the scrupulous archives of the Costume Institute”.
Building off of that, then, the dress code for the Met Gala 2024 is “The Garden of Time” based on a short story by J.G. Ballard and the moral of it, essentially, is that time is unholdable, it will conquer all obstacles. That’s also the relationship between nature and reality. There is melancholy here, if you choose to look at it that way, but you can also take a “seize the day” approach to it because, well, this exhibit and this party, therefore, are meant to represent the fashion industry’s meditation on life. Just some of the ideas that Zendaya and Law will be ruminating on over the next few weeks in preparation for this moment. And it is a HUGE moment given the two films she’ll be coming off of. Dune: Part 2 is expected to be the year’s first blockbuster and the hype about Challengers is that it’ll be the performance of her career to date even though she’s already an Emmy winner.
In the meantime, the Dune press tour arrived in London yesterday and Z was joined by Timothée Chalamet and Austin Butler at the photo call, once again serving in a deep purple coat over beautifully tailored trousers. Timmy meanwhile was in a gorgeous textured turtleneck over leather pants, leaving Austin to look like their uncle.
We're talking about this on The Squawk! (app link here)
