How Many Outfit Changes Did Zendaya Have at the Met Gala?

By Asia Milia Ware, a writer for the Cut who covers fashion and beauty.  She also writes the column “Why Is Your Skin So Good.” She has covered fashion and beauty for seven years with bylines in InStyle, Teen Vogue, Paper, and Essence.

For Zendaya’s first time as a co-chair of the Met Gala, she decided to wear not one, not two, but three dresses. Don’t celebrities normally change? Yes, but it’s usually after the gala is done and they’re headed to after-parties. Zendaya’s first look was an organza dress with a mermaid shape complete with metallic birds, leaves, and more signs of nature by John Galliano for Maison Margiela. (It was a reinterpretation of a Dior spring 1999 gown.) The actress worked with her longtime stylist, Law Roach, to dream up this look.

Zendaya’s first look. Photo: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

And just when we thought we’d seen everyone who was coming walk the carpet, there came a dramatic floral-bouquet headpiece approaching — Zendaya committed to having another grand entrance, this time wearing a black Givenchy Haute Couture spring 1996 silk off-the-shoulder gown designed by Galliano. The details of the dress were complex, from the corset to the lace ruffles. The headpiece was an accessory from Alexander McQueen’s spring 2007 collection. Zendaya’s thorough commitment to braving the carpet twice is impressive, especially considering her makeup was completely different for each look. For the first gown, her Galliano-inspired makeup featured thin brows, excessive red eye shadows spilling onto her cheeks, and a dark lip. When she arrived for the second time, her makeup was soft and natural, with a flushed cheek and barely-there lip.

But that’s not all! While inside the Met, Zendaya presented alongside her co-chairs, Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny, and Chris Hemsworth, in a custom-embroidered body-hugging gown by Celia Kritharioti, the oldest couture house in Athens, Greece. The gown had a deep plunging neck, a silhouette that could be considered one of Zendaya’s signatures. It was her first time not wearing a John Galliano look (she even wore one to the pre–Met Gala dinner at Anna Wintour’s house). It’s safe to say that she and Law Roach had a love affair with Galliano this year, like lots of other celebrities, but unlike everyone else, Zendaya’s looks didn’t end with her fantasy Galliano gowns. When you’re Zendaya, that’s just what you do. And, yes, she did change again for after-parties like everyone else. She attended Loewe’s after-party in a custom Loewe slate-gray gown.