Zendaya has come a long way since she posed for cameras at Justin Bieber’s showcase as a bright-eyed teenage Disney star – in a silver lamé blazer, vest, patent skirt, tights and wedge booties – which marked the actor’s first major Hollywood premiere. And while her love of fashion was instantaneous, it was not always easy. So, the actor’s stylist Law Roach came up with a long-term strategy – “I was like an architect working on a blueprint,” he previously told British – to evolve her image from sweet Disney princess to red-carpet trailblazer.

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Central to his plan was the Who Wore It Best? column: an archaic fixture in weekly glossies. By dressing his client in the same looks worn by high-profile stars – but “better,” as he said – Roach quickly got Zendaya’s name on the “best” section. Emerging designers were happy to lend looks to the rising star and big-name brands soon started taking notice. Now that Zendaya can have her pick of any house, Roach’s mission, “to help an amazing girl show the world what I saw in her”, seems hard to fathom.

There have been some jaw-dropping red-carpet moments along the way – Zendaya has a mercurial wardrobe that makes the concept of a signature look seem passé. She gives every moment in the spotlight her all because of the research she and Roach put into a single turn in front of the cameras. “We play dress-up and create outfits to make ourselves happy, or to pay homage to the people we’re inspired by,” added Roach.

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Getting done up for a step-and-repeat “gave her this real confidence, like, OK, let me put it all on and go out there and give this to the world, and then let me come home and take it all off and become myself again,” Roach later told British in April 2024. “It’s so funny. People were like, ‘Oh, she’s so fierce.’ And, yeah, she is, on the inside. But she’d rather be at home, with her hair down and no make-up, with Noon, her dog, watching a movie.” Zendaya agreed, noting that in everyday life she’d likely be “regurgitating the same sweater-slack combo,” whereas shoots and red carpets demand full commitment to character. “She’s a different being that comes into me – my own Sasha Fierce,” she said of her fashion-forward alter-ego. “I have to buy her. I have to buy that this woman exists, or that this fantasy exists.”

Fantasy is one word. The duo have deployed science – revisit her mesmerising light-up Cinderella gown at the 2019 Met Gala to see true commitment in action – and welding techniques – her Versace Met look the year prior was a modern-day ode to A Knight’s Tale – to make Zendaya stand out. Myriad hair transformations – from blunt bobs and waist-length braids to disco curls – have heightened the transportive qualities of her red-carpet moments, which are never anything but a pleasure to behold.

As Zendaya turns 30, that strategy has resulted in a red-carpet record few of her contemporaries can match. She’s moved from feats of architectural engineering – including the 20 carbon-fibre rods and 40 metres of LED lights required for her Cinderella gown at the 2019 Met Gala – to archival couture and Matières Fécales method dressing. This year alone has brought Grecian creations for press tour; if-you-know-you-know references; and bridal gowns courtesy of (though still no word on what she wore for her actual wedding). Off duty, her style is decidedly more low-key: she’s often spotted walking the dog she shares with husband Tom Holland in Maison Margiela Tabis and a trench coat, like all the best London girls.

To mark her 30th birthday, we look back at Zendaya’s 30 fashion hits to date.