“Zendaya is an AI” is not my line, it’s Duana’s. And it’s how she described Zendaya on the Oscar group chat we had going during the show because…well… there’s only so many ways we can say that Zendaya is UNREAL. Unreal to the point where, yeah, it’s like some computer somewhere was asked by some freak to design the perfect person for clothing and Zendaya is what would happen.

 

And it’s not just that she’s tall, or that she’s lean, or even that she’s beautiful – because … models. On any given runway anywhere in the world, there is a model who has the same proportions and who can stomp a catwalk in a given outfit but the effect, it just wouldn’t be the same. 

 

Zendaya, the AI, breathes shimmering, fragile life into a piece of clothing – it literally comes alive. These palm trees on this Armani Privé dress are living plants feeding off the style essence of Zendaya AI! 

 

 

Does that make sense? I don’t know. I’m operating on very little sleep, but I know I’m not so f-cked up to look at this and understand that it’s an actual phenomenon. Zendaya + clothing is a phenomenon; we are witnessing some kind of cosmic event every time she and Law Roach collaborate on an outfit. And everyone knows it – not just us, the public, the fans, the internet, but THEM. The industry, the business, Hollywood. 

That’s the only explanation for why Zendaya, at 27 years old, not yet an Oscar nominee, is invited to the Oscars as a presenter, to present on her own. Think of all the pairings that we saw on stage last night, for all those awards. All of them household names, but very few of them were given the opportunity to present solo. Zendaya? Those show producers understood that Zendaya is a standalone. And besides, who the f-ck would want to walk out there with her. 

 

But let’s go back to the dress – this romantic, one-shoulder, gun metal icy rose, slink sexy sophisticated thing… that is definitely NOT a Dune thing. The Challengers era is officially here, and she’s kicking it off with the same length hair as her character in the film, and a new teaser that dropped last night: 

Where Chani was all sand and the neutral colours of the Arrakis landscape, Zendaya has style-pivoted to the fashion palette of her next major project this year, a project that was supposed to open the Venice Film Festival last summer, and if not for the strike, some people were actually predicting that the role would put her in Oscar contention. 

Instead, she’s presenting at the Oscars, simultaneously taking a Dune: Part Two victory lap, while launching The Challengers’ press tour… all the way to the Met Gala in May. 

Sarah last week was begging Zendaya to go inside, a naïve request in retrospect (sorry, Sarah). Zendaya will be staying outside. There will be no rest.