I see you, Zendaya. You're trying to make us think you're just humbly dressing down during an off day from the Challengers red carpet tour as if you're just any ol' quietly stylish person when, in reality, you've actually got a Master's Degree in IYKYK fashion.
Like, look at Zendaya's plain red dad cap, trench coat, black jeans, and white sneakers, so casually worn on April 30 that you'd be forgiven for thinking she's just wearing clothes.
Yeah, she's also carrying a Louis Vuitton bag but in this context it looks like the sole intentional fashion nod in an otherwise ordinary outfit, no?
Possibly even the most normal, fashion-free Zendaya outfit ever, aside from her occasional grocery run, no?
No. Not Zendaya.
JW Anderson deserves ample credit for the slick, multi-layered style inherent to Challengers, the saucy tennis drama that stars Zendaya, but the actress herself — or maybe her stylist, Law Roach — ought to earn accolades putting together an outfit this quietly clever .
Okay, so look again at Zendaya's outfit with the trench coat and hat.
Normal celebrity outfit trying to escape the crush of paparazzi and adoring fans, right?
Yes.
But.
Look again at Zendaya's white sneakers, starkly contrasting against her dark pants. You'd be forgiven for missing them, how humbly they fall beneath the hem.
But those aren't any ol' white shoe. They're the ultimate ordinary white shoe, created by Roger Federer and rising sportswear star On.
The layers to this thing, for real.
Federer, a tennis legend, holds stock in On and partnered with the company to create what he (and many of the company's fans) considers to be the perfect daily driver: the On Roger sneaker.
It's a simple flat-soled sneaker that blends into any wardrobe, the perfect modest shoe for Zendaya to rock on the go as a subtle flex of her tennis-streetwear chops.
But wait, the thick plottens: in Challengers, several characters wear the sporty tenniswear designed by Federer and JW Anderson for UNIQLO, doubling deepening the insider angle to these shoes.
This is what I'm saying!
This is dressing with purpose, even with looks that otherwise appear to be quite plain. It's already strange enough seeing Zendaya dressed down, but to peel back the purpose that put this all together? Next-level normality.
