Zendaya’s Archival Givenchy Dress Is Pure Fashion Mythology
If Zendaya is starring in a movie inspired by Greek mythology, she’s going to find the perfect archival fashion moment inspired by Greek mythology to wear to the premiere. Tonight, she didn’t disappoint. Zendaya arrived to the Paris premiere of The Odyssey in dress that not only was inspired by a classic myth, but has also become a part of fashion myth itself.
According to fashion lore, back in late 1996, Alexander McQueen—the rebellious wunderkind of London’s fashion scene—was hired to take over the French couture house of Givenchy and given just three months to put together his debut collection. The result was the spring 1997 collection titled The Search for the Golden Fleece. Although it was inspired by a Jason and the Argonauts epic completely separate from the Homer-written epic that inspired The Odyssey, Athena, the goddess of war that Zendaya plays in the film, prominently features in both myths.
Zendaya and stylist Law Roach pulled the third look from the collection, originally worn on the runway by Debra Shaw. Featuring exaggerated pagoda sleeves and padded shoulders, the dress cuts a serious silhouette. Naturally, Zendaya also managed to source the gilded face mask designed by Philip Treacy to match (Shaw liked the mask so much that she also ended up wearing it to her own wedding).
Perhaps unsurprisingly, this is not the first time Zendaya has sourced a piece from McQueen’s relatively brief time at Givenchy. Back in 2024, while promoting Dune: Part II, she walked the red carpet in a skirt suit trimmed with red circuit boards from Givenchy’s fall 1999 collection.
Although Zendaya has mastered the art of the archive pull, in recent years she’s been more selective about the moments she opts for vintage. In fact, the historic nature of this outfit stands in stark contrast to the dress she wore at The Odyssey’s London premiere just yesterday. Then she wore a Schiaparelli couture dress that had walked the runway just hours before. It was so fresh that it had to be transported via private jet from Paris to London.
