Zendaya stuns on cover of both US Vogue and British Vogue covers in rare move

For the third time ever, American Vogue and British Vogue share a cover star for May 2023 issue

For the third time in Condé Nast history, Zendaya has posed for the cover of both American Vogue and British Vogue at the same time.

On 9 April, the 27-year-old Emmy winner was revealed as the simultaneous cover star for both Vogue and British Vogue’s May issues. The publications have only shared personalities two times before. Adele made history in 2021 as the first person to appear on both covers, while Noami Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, and Christy Turlington posed for the magazines’ September 2023 issues.

Zendaya rocked two distinct styles for the separate covers. For the US edition, the Euphoria actor looked elegant as she posed in front of a wall of green ivy, wearing a couture Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda dress and rocking a massive Bulgari ring. The US cover was photographed by none other than legendary photographer Annie Leibovitz, while the British cover’s Challengers-inspired shoot was photographed by Carlijn Jacobs.

The Disney Channel alum channelled sporty chic in a Wales Bonner track jacket, shorts, and sneakers for the British Vogue edition. Both interviews were written by journalist Marley Marius, and Zendaya’s longtime collaborator, Law Roach, unsurprisingly served as stylist for the simultaneous shoots.

Throughout both cover stories, Zendaya shared details about preparing for her role as fictional tennis star Tashi Duncan in the highly-anticipated sports drama meets love triangle, directed by Luca Guadagnino. The Spider-Man: Homecoming actor also opened up about her romance with co-star Tom Holland, and the difficulties she’s found navigating private life in the spotlight.

The decision to photograph Zendaya as Vogue cover star likely comes ahead of her appearance as co-chair for the 2024 Met Gala next month. In February, Vogue announced Zendaya will serve as co-chair for the annual fashion event alongside Bad Bunny, Chris Hemsworth, Jennifer Lopez, and editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.

The theme for this year’s Met Gala - which takes place on the first Monday in May at New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art - is “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion”. The fashion extravaganza coincides with the opening of the Costume Institute’s annual exhibit, which will be centred around 50 historically significant pieces of fashion - some too fragile ever to be worn again. Nearly 250 items will be drawn from the Costume Institute’s permanent collection, featuring designs from Elsa Schiaparelli, Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior, and Givenchy to span 400 years of fashion history.

The exhibition will be designed around three main zones: land, sea, and sky. Each “zone” will symbolise the natural materials used within it to create garments. By emphasising the natural world and how its been used in fashion throughout time, sustainability will remain a key focus throughout the exhibit.

Attendees are encouraged to follow the Met Gala’s dress code, loosely labelled “The Garden of Time”. The dress code takes inspiration from a short story of the same title, written by JG Ballard in 1962, which focuses on the theme of fleeting beauty. Met Gala guests can embrace the obvious by wearing florals to represent an actual garden, or wear items that signify the passing of time.

Following the announcement that Zendaya will serve as one of the co-chairs, fans were immediately ecstatic for her return to the Met Gala for the first time since 2019. It’s no secret that Zendaya has turned out some show-stopping looks on the Met Gala red carpet, and she’s often received praise as one of the few guests to perfectly capture each year’s dress code.

For her last Met Gala look, which was styled by Roach, the Greatest Showman actor followed the theme “Camp: Notes on Fashion” by dressing up in a custom Cinderella gown designed by Tommy Hilfiger. The duo reenacted Cinderella right on the red carpet as Roach waved his prop wand, and a few puffs of smoke lit up Zendaya’s luminescent skirt. The previous year, “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination,” the actor’s custom chainmail Versace gown was notably a nod to Saint Joan of Arc.

The Met Gala is the annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. As a result, the price to attend the event can cost as high as $50,000 per person. Although it’s unclear who will be attending this year’s Met Gala, apart from its co-chairs, it’s certain that Wintour will have final say over the celebrity guest list.