What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear Zendaya's name? Is it that her performance in “Euphoria” made Emmy history, or that she went to Arrakis as the rebel princess Chani in “Dune”: or that she went to Arrakis as the rebel princess Chani in “Dune: Part 2”? How about a couple outfits coordinated with her boyfriend (and Spider-Man co-star) Tom Holland?” Well, if you've been paying any attention to the 2024 red carpet, you'll associate ‘Zendaya’ with ‘Best Dressed’ before anything else.

Zendaya's Best Red Carpet Fashion of 2024 makes her more than a style icon or a devout scholar of runway history. She appeared on more than 50 red carpets covered by Marie Claire editors this year, making her the most viewed celebrity by our readers. She and image architect Lo Roach wrote the book on how to dress smartly after her role in the sci-fi epic “Dune,” by sneaking into esteemed runway collections and creating custom-made pieces for Loewe, Louis Vuitton, Bottega Veneta, and others: Loewe, Louis Vuitton, Created custom-made pieces for Bottega Veneta and others; co-chaired the 2024 Met Gala; won a gold medal in street style at the Paris Olympics; and wrote a book on how to dress smartly: Loewe, Louis Vuitton, and Bottega Veneta. He also won a gold medal in street style at the Paris Olympics.

Zendaya's best red carpet fashion stood out for its fearlessness. Some A-list actresses never go back to their sequined peplum gowns and skin-tight naked dresses. Zendaya, on the other hand, kept viewers on their toes while pushing her own boundaries. From afar, she's wearing a glitchy Givenchy cyborg suit (for “Dune”), Loewe, Thom Browne, Calvin Klein tennis ball green and Wimbledon white (for “Challengers”), a Shakespearean Vivienne Westwood gowns (for a one-night stand in London) seemed equally enthusiastically embraced. To demonstrate Dune's commitment to futuristic aesthetics, he once donned a suit of Mugler's metal cyborgs.

Even if she made successive appearances in items designed by the same maison, they never looked exactly the same. Her looks varied in shape, texture, and related glamour, but she was head-to-toe particular about each, changing her manicure and dying her hair to best complement the dress (or suit). She also took the time to champion smaller designers alongside well-known LVMH-backed designers like the experimental Trishej Demy and Greek couture house Celia Chrysaloti.

It is a testament to her red carpet prowess that no one senses the red carpet anxiety she often suffers under wigs, makeup, and gravity-defying dresses. In a cover story interview with Vanity Fair magazine this fall, she confessed to feeling hesitant about some of her looks. But ultimately, she says, these outfits are a type of armor, a type of role modeling. In many ways, fashion is a tool for me,” she said. I consider myself a shy person, but you would be hard pressed to notice that from the crazy and sometimes ridiculous things I wear.”

Objectively, anyone wearing a suit made of metal or a dress nearly 100 years old is bound to make headlines. But Zendaya and Roach also stood out in the recent surge of archival fashion. The items they choose are derived from collections that have an aesthetic connection to the events they attend or the projects Zendaya promotes. And they both support vintage collectors in the process. We don't borrow,” Roach famously told Vogue magazine while promoting ”Dune.”

These choices seem more genuine to Zendaya, given that they are not limited to press tours and red carpets. A few months after the frenzy of “Dune” and “Challenger,” Zendaya co-chaired the 2024 Met Gala and wore several archival looks appropriate to the “Garden of Time” theme. Even before she walked up the museum steps in a Maison Margiela Artisanal by John Galliano (inspired by a 1999 Dior piece), she was hinting about her look in a vintage pre-Met Gala floral John Galliano dress. She followed the first dress with a second dress designed by Galliano from his time at Givenchy in the mid-1990s.

Later that year, Z paid homage to Cher in a vintage Bob Mackie naked dress circa 2001. The sparkling champagne-colored gown and white leather overcoat were reminiscent of the Cher show performances of the 1970s. Each of these fashion moments was accompanied by hair and makeup that emphasized the dress and the original context in which it was worn.

No one would accuse the history of Zendaya's look of overshadowing the look itself; whether it is a glittering Armani Privé for the 2024 Academy Awards or an off-the-runway Burberry for a promotional appearance, nothing the actress wears Nothing. Both she and Roach have the range to be understated or over-the-top, colorful or black-and-white, decades-old vintage or brand-new custom. Each unique look is unique because it achieves the same goal of demonstrating Zendaya's masterful composure and understanding of fashion, but by different means.

The designers are paying attention to more than just opening their archives to the public so that Roach and Zendaya can ransack them as much as they like. After years of dedication to Christian Louboutin's “So Kate” heels, Louboutin will release its “Miss Z” pumps next year in Zendaya's honor. Louis Vuitton has recently tapped Z as an ambassador, dressing her for Paris Fashion Week (the only time she has been on the front row this season), using her in the highly anticipated Early Oats Codes collaborative campaign with Takashi Murakami, and even creating a custom-made burgundy outfit for her date night with Tom Holland. When Z likes a certain maison, she wears it often and stays true to her own style. While other celebrities are momentarily on board with the flashy luxury trend, such loyalty to an authentic brand seems rare.

Seven years ago, when Zendaya was only 21, she appeared on the September 2018 cover of Marie Claire in a conversation with Janet Mock. She talked about how working with Roach to shape her style helped her shape her professional identity during a pivotal time in her career-the early years of adulthood, when she transitioned from child star to capital actress. 'I wanted to create myself as someone other than a Disney character. Fashion helped me do that. My stylist, Lo Roach, and I created a world beyond what I was known for through my clothes.”

Now, no one thinks of Zendaya as a “former Disney star.” She has been in so many other projects and transformed into so many other advanced looks that only that adjective will remain. Whatever the audience most associates her with - Tashi Duncan, Chani from Arakis, Lou Bennett from Euphoria, MJ from Tom Holland's Spider-Man - she is now the MVP of red carpet fashion, no doubt.