Watch: Zendaya’s Stylist Law Roach Teases What to Expect From Met Gala 2026
You can always count on Zendaya to bring the drama.
The Euphoria actress is only 29 years old, but she’s already taken the Met Gala steps by storm at seven of the annual Costume Institute benefits for The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
“I first went when I was 18 years old,” she shared on Live with Kelly and Mark in 2024. “It was such an exciting and new experience but still terrifying, you know?”
Indeed, as Zendaya put it, “Going up the steps, it’s very daunting.”
But that hasn’t stopped her from being a fashion risk-taker and ensnaring us all in her web of style. After making her debut at the 2015 bash—in a custom Fausto Puglisi dress for the “China: Through the Looking Glass” theme—the Emmy winner has upped the ante with one look after the next.
Take 2018, when she dressed up for the “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination” theme in a suit of armor—not to mention an Atelier Versace chainmail dress, which, according to stylist Law Roach, channelled a certain patron saint of France.
“I dreamt of Joan of Arc one night and called Versace and was like, ‘What if we did something to reference Joan of Arc?'” he told WWD. “They came back with really, really great sketches.”
The Shake It Up star wasn’t afraid to commit, even changing her hair color to get into character, rocking a red bob with bangs as she ascended the New York museum’s famed staircase.
Photo by Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
Yet, Zendaya and Law took it to a whole other level the following year, when the Disney Channel alum came as a real-life Disney princess in honor of the “Camp: Notes on Fashion” soiree. She embodied Cinderella in a light-up Tommy Hilfiger gown made with 40 meters worth of LED lights, with Law as her fairy godmother.
While her sartorial slay made jaws drop faster than you can say bibbidi-bobbidi-boo, Zendaya revealed that it wasn’t so magical behind the scenes.
“This Met stressed me out,” she told British Vogue afterward. “I was basically wearing a dress that was electronic. I got there, and it wasn’t ready. It was supposed to do a little bit more than it did, like it was supposed to start smaller and get bigger.”
Acknowledging she was “so grateful for the team who worked so hard,” Zendaya admitted they were “under a lot of pressure” and the clock struck midnight before the gown was done: “It needed a week more.”
ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images
Her stylist Law has also been candid about the challenges of fashion’s biggest night, telling E! News in March, “It’s a lot of stress and they’re only on the carpet for like five minutes, and then you go in and it’s all over. So, it’s months and months of hard work for a five-minute payout.”
Though it remains to be seen if Zendaya and rumored husband Tom Holland will make their Met Gala debut at the 2026 ball on May 4, Law hinted that the “Costume Art” theme and “Fashion Is Art” dress code are “very broad” and will inspire many different interpretations, quipping to E!, “Maybe we’ll see someone dressed as the Mona Lisa.”
While awaiting to see who steps out this year, look back at Zendaya’s best Met Gala moments over the years, inspired by not just Joan of Arc and Cinderella, but also Diana Ross and Bianca Jagger.
Photo by Jamie McCarthy/FilmMagic
Photo by George Pimentel/WireImage
Photo by Jamie McCarthy/FilmMagic
Photo by Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Cindy Ord/MG24/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Cindy Ord/MG24/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Tune in to E! on Monday, May 4, starting at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT for every must-see moment from the Met Gala 2026.
