It’s a quality so rare and special, I don’t think I’ll be able to adequately describe it. But if there’s a limited supply of it in the cosmos, Zendaya possesses almost all of it: the ability to be everywhere… but still be missed, so that when she shows up, even though it hasn’t been that long since we’ve seen her, we’re acting like a drought has ended. And not just us but, it seems, other celebrities too. How does she do it?

Zendaya was promoting The Drama through March and April. We saw her, so much of her, on the red carpet, at the premieres, at the Oscars. We know we’ll be seeing even more of her because she still has THREE more movies coming out before the end of the year. On top of The Drama and Euphoria. And speaking of Euphoria, for the last several weeks, she’s been on TV every Sunday as the third season continues its broadcast so, again, it’s not like there’s been no Zendaya; there’s actually been a lot of Zendaya. And yet…

She showed at the Louis Vuitton show last night in New York and the internet lost its f-cking mind. It’s the looks, as usual, and we’ll get to that. But it was also at a level of excitement, even among so many other big names, that confirmed once again that when she’s there – when she’s anywhere – she is the biggest deal among the big deals.

Back to the “how” of it then… well… some of it has to do with the fact that she’s in Euphoria but she is done with Euphoria. A new episode airs once a week, but it’s no secret now that she has fulfilled her obligation to that story, to her character, and she’s over it. When I say she’s fulfilled her obligation, I mean that she did not phone it in. Her performance, in this series that has turned into a piece of sh-t, is not a throwaway – she is present, she is committed, she is doing what she can. So it’s not like she’s compromised any artistic or professional values. But at the same time, in her own time outside of what we’re seeing on screen, there is a detachment, whether real or imagined, that the gossip community can sense and co-sign. No one is faulting her for keeping her distance. Her reputation is intact and this is almost a miracle in our current timeline, when everyone can find a way to have a hot take about how any xyz celebrity should be doing more and better.

That’s one part of why it feels like Zendaya has been quiet. The other part is the Met Gala. The Met Gala was one night, but the discourse around the Met Gala, leading up to it and during it and then after it occupied the equivalent of two weeks of pop culture bandwidth. And she wasn’t there. She was seen in New York around that time, and Law Roach attended, so there was anticipation that she’d make an appearance… but the evening came and went without a sighting, which then contributed to a kind of letdown.

That brings us to yesterday, just over two weeks after the Met Gala, and Zendaya’s arrival at the LV presentation in a silver-grey dress that could also be a blazer turned around – like to me it’s giving a hint of Celine Dion’s iconic backwards John Galliano tuxedo from the Oscars in 1999. Not a strong wind but a slight gentle breeze of that memory, right?

Law is referring there to Edie Sedgwick as the official inspiration for the look but my mind went to his other client, Celine, in the way that the fabric drapes across the front of her body, how the sleeves hang as though she’s thrown a man’s jacket over herself and run off into the night. And, god, the luxe of this material, how f-cking expensive it looks – substantial and rich but with movement and just the right amount of hang. It’s masculine but also feminine, sexy without the generic markers of what “sexy” is. And you know she loves it because she’s flirty.

As for the part where she was the main character in a room full of main characters. The way Emma Stone is looking at her in this video, LOL. Even she wants to know if Z and Tom Holland are really married. Or all the tea on Sydney Sweeney. Seriously Emma’s body language is basically, “Girl tell me everything NOW”. 

And now the grand finale… she came in one outfit and left in another, straight off the runway. The bomber jacket over the bright yellow boxer shorts – again and always, only Zendaya.

Zendaya attends Louis Vuitton Cruise 2027 at the Frick Collection on May 20, 2026 in New York City.

Zendaya attends Louis Vuitton Cruise 2027 after party at Crane Club on May 20, 2026 in New York City

Photo credits: Eric Acquaye/ZUMA Press Wire/Guerin Charles/ABACA/Shutterstock

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