Zendaya’s Tennis Whites Are a Sports & Fashion History Lesson
Zendaya’s Wimbledon whites belong in their own hall of fame. Over the weekend, the Challengers actress staged an all-white style tour de force in a quartet of monochrome tennis dresses—each with an equally as impressive inspiration as the next.
Backdropped by the Duomo, Zendaya stepped out to a photo call in Milan yesterday while wearing a piece of American fashion heritage. The actress slipped into a halter neck number from Ralph Lauren’s spring 1992 collection, a piece originally modeled by a fresh-faced Cindy Crawford on the runway. Zendaya’s dress featured a flared mini skirt, a fitted bodice, and a collared neckline—all makings of the perfect little tennis dress. She styled the look with white Louboutin heels, flouncy curls, and a selection of Bulgari jewelry.
Zendaya and her stylist Law Roach have taken a more subtle approach to archival dressing for Challengers, especially when compared to her recent Dune: Part Two press tour. No, there aren’t flashy Mugler robo suits or McQueen-era Givenchy, but this Ralph Lauren mini dress is a definite fashion ace in every sense. Also during her stay in Milan, Zendaya pulled out another high fashion grail that could as easily classify as a tennis outfit as it could a party dress.
She sported a custom number from London brand 16Arlington to appear on the Italian TV Show Che Tempo Che Fa. Like her Ralph Lauren number, this look was designed in a fairly simple silhouette and styled with matching Louboutin pumps.
Zendaya kicked off her weekend in Monaco by serving up a fashion, tennis, and history lesson all in one. She paid homage to tennis legend Althea Gibson—the first Black woman to win a Grand Slam tournament in 1956—in a sleeveless top and a pair of pleated white shorts. The matching pieces, designed by the Roger Federer-backed brand On Running, were a direct reference to Gibson’s signature tennis whites.
Just a few hours earlier, the actress and her co-stars soaked in some actual tennis at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters tournament. The event, which also doubled as a Challengers photo call, saw the actress appear in a luxe set from Brunello Cucinelli consisting of a ribbed long sleeve shirt and a dramatic skirt complete with a center slit. Who knew there were so many ways to do tennis whites?
