Zendaya Pays Homage to Whitney Houston Via Carrie Bradshaw

Zendaya seems to have found “The Greatest Love of All” in Tom Holland, and she’s wearing just the dress to prove it. As rumors continue to swirl that the couple quietly tied the knot, the actor stepped onto the red carpet in a vintage mini dress that paid homage to none other than Whitney Houston (somehow, by way of Carrie Bradshaw), the voice behind that very 1985 power ballad.

Arriving in Los Angeles from Paris Fashion Week, where she dazzled in a high-low bridal look, Zendaya stepped out to the 2026 Essence Black Women in Hollywood Awards today in an outfit rooted in history. The actor wore a one-shoulder confection from Caché that she and her stylist and Image Architect Law Roach appeared to purchase from Amacord Vintage. A quintessential mall chain in the 1990s, Caché was originally known for importing leading European designers like Roberto Cavalli, Thierry Mugler, Gianni Versace, and Giorgio Armani, but eventually became better known for its own flashy in-house line. The dress Zendaya is wearing is a version of one worn by Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City: The Movie, featuring a one-shoulder silhouette with sculptural hibiscus flowers, gold leaf detailing, and ruching.

But the lineage of the dress runs deeper than a Sex and the City cameo.

The Caché silhouette, down to the oversized hibiscus appliqués, riffs on a Eugene Alexander design created for Whitney Houston. The late singer first wore the piece for a 1986 promotional photoshoot, an image that would later take on an arc of its own when it was chosen as the cover of Life magazine’s book commemorating her legacy. As the fashion lore goes, Patricia Field and the SATC costume department later sourced the Caché design for the 2008 film, cropping the hem to a midi length in a nod to Houston’s original Eugene Alexander look.

And if the rumors about Holland are true, the romantic subtext only makes Zendaya’s vintage moment sweeter.