It is not my impression that Zendaya plays a principal character in Dune — the Wikipedia plot synopsis of this film, at least, leaves out her character completely, and is mentioned only once in the novel’s summary — but you wouldn’t know it from the way she owned the Venice premiere. Everyone went nuts for this clingy, wet-look Balmain, and deservedly so. The whole damp sea-goddess aesthetic really only works when you go all-in (think Kim Kardashian in Mugler at the Met), and it can be REALLY risky; too often, the wearer ends up looking like a vengeful rival turned a hose on them. But Zendaya and Law Roach avoided that pitfall and instead turned her into Sexy Sandworm. This outfit is leather, if you can believe it, and is a clever derivation of this bodice piece from a 2020 runway show (about which I noted that it reminded me of something Daisy Ridley’s Rey would buy at the Jakku outlets, and since that’s a desert planet, I feel like this counts as a mind-meld). The fit is IMMACULATE, the styling is precise, and for a movie named after a big ol’ pile of sand, it really IS apt to look as if you might have just risen fully-formed from a dune that was touched by Zeus.
[Photos: Shutterstock]
