Zendaya Is the Defining Louis Vuitton Muse of the Millennium

Her appearance at the Louis Vuitton Spring 2026 presentation at the Louvre on Tuesday during Paris Fashion Week is just one of many brand outings for the international superstar this year, amid numerous campaigns and her once-in-a-generation Louis Vuitton suit at the Met Gala in May.

What defies logic in this moment is her obvious and unattainable chicness in a brand that has, under Nicolas Ghesquiére's direction, oftentimes bucked staid French principals in favor of boldness, reinvention and an (occasionally) clunky futurism. But that unattainable chicness in the brand's clothing seems to be the entire point.

She is, more than many, a woman who can entirely pull it off.

Separating the red carpet from the ready-to-wear, I often pass on inclusions of best dressed Louis Vuitton looks in my recaps and reviews because, at least to me, Ghesquiére's silhouettes are difficult to wrangle. This is not a knock on the designer, but more so commentary on those staid French fashion tenants and Hollywood styling directives running into the brick wall of his boxy patterning and forward thinking prints.

This coat is one example of this, with the furred collar and sleeves and tie knots meant to mimic both toggle buttons and the traditional French uniforms houses like Louis Vuitton love to reference. The metallic jacquard with subtle oil-slick coloring paired against the impossibly high rise of the coat and her legs, however, makes this almost costume-y in any normal setting, even front row at a fashion show. But here she is, looking near-effortless in it. It's everything I love best about Ghesquiére's inclinations mashed up with everything that makes them so impossible to pull off.

The retro-futuristic stylings of her tousled side part and dramatic bang only play further on that delicate line Louis Vuitton so often treads.

It's in the other attendees that the dichotomy between how Zendaya wears these clothes versus everyone else becomes clearer. Here are other front-row faces from the show — Sophie Turner, Jennifer Connelly and Ana de Armas respectively. They're certainly wearing Louis Vuitton, a fact made obvious by the use of black, or Turner's outrageous sleeves and that signature Ghesquiére leather combo on Connelly. But they are not wearing Zendaya's Louis Vuitton, which seems to be what I'm circling here.

There is an undeniable proportionality at play that makes Zendaya's legginess in these clothes not the norm for most. But these women are all modelesque, like Zendaya, and to simplify it to body proportions is, at least to me, an entirely cheap and uninteresting way to read the situation here.

Lisa's safer outfit, with this throwback plaid belt and ruffled knit, gives a hint of what makes Zendaya's showing so strong for me. Like the former, Lisa's strong self-image shines through the often overwhelming nature of Louis Vuitton's clothing, what with the heavy knit and overaccesorization and that clunky bag. Despite the matronly colors and throwback patterning, there's a youthful edge that makes it read like an attempt at cool. If there's any look I see strongly disseminating through the mid-level influencer markets, it's the looks like this.

Leave the boxy black dresses to the Paige DeSorbos of the world.

Still, I'm just struck by Zendaya's outings at Louis Vuitton this year. I often am; her Met Gala appearance ranked highly on our best dressed of the night. At the time, I wrote: "To say it is impeccable is an understatement. It is, without a doubt, among the most beautiful suits I’ve ever seen."

Perhaps it's not Louis Vuitton at all. It is Zendaya, a singular fashion force who pulls the entire industry in around her. A woman who wears clothes like no other currently, a woman whose creative partnerships with Law Roach or Louis Vuitton or many others both elevate the realm of possibility in womenswear and define modern style itself.

Brava to this glam bitch — see you at the next fashion week.

Photos via Getty Images