Fashion Excellence: Zendaya’s Outfits on the Challengers Press Tour
“Have you seen Zendaya’s tennis outfits recently?” More than ever, we are seeing that method dressing actually works when promoting a movie. The fashion statements become the talk of the media, viral moments on the internet, and conversations between co-workers over coffee. Simply put, it draws interest and hype to the movie.
Method dressing became an incredibly popular topic during the Barbie era last summer. Margot Robbie and her stylist, Andrew Mukamal, created an exquisite collection of looks that drew inspiration from everyone’s favorite childhood doll in its many iterations. The movie itself already had so much buzz around it that I’m sure it still would’ve done well anyway, however, I would argue that the anticipation and excitement around Margot Robbie’s looks gave people the extra push to go see the movie.
For a lot of people, Barbie was the first time they saw an actor promote a movie through clothing, but this was certainly not the first. Zendaya and her stylist, Law Roach, have been doing this since she starred in The Greatest Showman in 2017. Since then, Zendaya has used method dressing everytime she has promoted a new movie. I remember noticing it for the first time during the Spider-man: No Way Home press tour, and I will never forget her glamourous spider-inspired outfits from both the LA and London premieres (please google this, you won’t be disappointed!).
THE CHALLENGERS PRESS TOUR
For this press tour, Zendaya and Law’s approach was very literal. Think tennis-inspired pieces, tennis green color, and tennis motifs on the clothes. Sometimes it was as obvious as tennis rackets embroidered into a dress, and other times it was as subtle as a hint of that vibrant green color.
I think this on-the-nose interpretation is actually what draws non-fashion people in. Of course the fashion lovers are going to eat up every look that Zendaya wears, but it’s this literal approach that makes everyone intrigued. Again, I believe that Zendaya slaying each and every one of her looks made people want to see the movie. That certainly was the case for me (and I just love Zendaya, so I wanted to see it anyway)!
The standout outfits for me were:
Chainmail Challengers movie poster dress by Celia Kritharioti
Tennis green empire waist dress from the1930s
Striped waistcoat with a matching mini skirt by Vivienne Westwood
Long white dress with tennis rackets embroidered all over for the London Premiere by Thom Browne
Tennis ball heels by Loewe
Checkered white and green mini dress (very 60s) by Louis Vuitton (Marc Jacobs)
Long sparkly green dress with an image of a tennis player for the Australian premiere by Loewe
I LOVED LOVED LOVED all of these looks!! Fashion to the max!!
THE TREND EFFECT
One separate, but important thing to mention is that tennis and sporty wear are trending for the summertime. If you go into any trendy clothing store, you will most likely see tennis-inspired pieces — lots of tennis skirts, polos, crew socks, and tennis-printed sweatshirts and tees.
It could just be a coincidence, especially because this aesthetic was also trendy last year, but I also feel that it is partly because of the hype surrounding the Challengers movie. Funnily enough, the movie was supposed to premiere in September 2023 and was pushed back to April 2024, so there is potential that my theory could be correct.
Last summer was Barbiecore, maybe this summer is Tenniscore?
Thank you so much for reading! I’ll be back soon with a new post!
All my best,
Sammie
