Zendaya is fitting the theme of her new wedding movie, The Drama, by rocking something old at the film’s Los Angeles premiere.
On Tuesday, March 17, the actress, 29, stunned in the silk Vivienne Westwood gown she first wore to the Oscars in 2015 while walking the red carpet at the DGA Theater Complex.
This time, however, Zendaya wore her hair short with a side part but looked just as glamorous as she did over 11 years ago at the 87th annual Academy Awards.
In an interview with Variety on the red carpet, Zendaya opened up about working with her stylist, Law Roach, to throw it back with a statement piece from her own archive.
“I kind of remembered the saying, ‘Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue,’ so this is my something old, so I thought I’d bring it back and give it a new life,” she said.
She added, “It meant so much to me, this dress. It was such an important moment for myself, my community, for my loved ones. It felt right. And it also just happened to be a wedding dress, so that works!”
Zendaya’s comments about the importance of her look appeared to allude to the controversy that brewed after the 2015 Oscars. During an episode of E!’s Fashion Police dissecting the red carpet fashion from the ceremony, cohost Giuliana Rancic made offensive remarks, describing Zendaya as looking as though she smelled “like patchouli oil or weed” after the actress wore her hair in dreadlocks for the occasion.
Zendaya — who was just 18 at the time — called out Rancic’s comments in a statement via Instagram.
“There is a fine line between what is funny and disrespectful,” she wrote. “Someone said something about my hair at the Oscars that left me in awe. Not because I was relishing in rave outfit reviews, but because I was hit with ignorant slurs and pure disrespect. To say that an 18 year old young woman with locs must smell of patchouli oil or ‘weed’ is not only a large stereotype but is outrageously offensive.”
Rancic, 51, apologized to Zendaya both on air on E! News and via X.
In a second statement via Instagram, Zendaya accepted Rancic’s apology, writing, “Giuliana, I accept your apology and I’m glad it was a learning experience for you and for the network.”
Zendaya stars alongside Robert Pattinson in A24’s new wedding comedy, The Drama, while rumors are also swirling that she may have married longtime beau Tom Holland. Zendaya’s stylist, Roach, set the internet alight earlier this month when he suggested that Zendaya and Holland, also 29, had secretly tied the knot. (They got engaged in late 2024.)
During a Monday, March 16, appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Zendaya played coy about the speculation.
“Really? I haven’t seen any of that,” she quipped to host Jimmy Kimmel.
