Zendaya’s ‘The Odyssey’ Press Tour Has Turned Into a Masterclass In Method Dressing, and New York Was No Exception

Zendaya has spent the better part of a decade proving that a press tour can be its own form of storytelling, and her rollout for Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ has taken that idea further than almost anything she has done before.

Playing the goddess Athena in the sprawling adaptation of Homer’s epic, Zendaya and longtime stylist Law Roach set out to build an entire wardrobe around the character rather than simply dressing for the red carpet.

That approach has carried the tour from London to Paris and now to New York, with Roach pulling pieces ranging from fresh off the runway couture to decades-old archival gowns, all in service of channeling Athena’s presence off-screen.

Along the way, the pairing has drawn comparisons to some of Zendaya and Roach’s most celebrated fashion moments, including their robot-inspired ‘Dune’ premiere looks and the tennis court chic era built around ‘Challengers’.

New York became the latest stop in that campaign, with Zendaya spotted heading to and from press appearances around the city dressed head to toe in sleek black leather. The look paired a structured black leather blazer with matching leather pants and a simple white top underneath, a sharp, armor-like silhouette that stood in stark contrast to some of the more ornate, gown-heavy looks she wore earlier in the tour.

That contrast has become something of a signature for this particular press run. Just days before her New York appearance, Zendaya stepped out in a plunging gold embellished and white Alberta Ferretti dress paired with gladiator-style heels while signing autographs for fans, before later changing into a cutout white Jacquemus dress the same day.

The tour’s most talked-about moment so far came out of London and Paris. Roach flew in the literal closing look from Schiaparelli’s Fall 2026 Haute Couture show, describing the last-minute delivery as sending a special dress for a special girl, so Zendaya could wear the sculpted, beaded gown just hours after it debuted on the runway. She later leaned into fashion history entirely, wearing a dramatic 1997 Givenchy Haute Couture piece originally designed by Alexander McQueen once the tour reached Paris.

Each of these looks has been read by fashion writers as part of one continuous narrative, tracing Athena’s presence through everything from combative, armor-inspired silhouettes to more ethereal, goddess like gowns.

That kind of cohesive visual arc has become a hallmark of how Zendaya and Roach approach these campaigns, treating an entire press cycle less like a series of individual outfits and more like a single, extended fashion statement.

The New York leg of the tour also carried a bit of extra weight given the film’s ensemble cast. Zendaya has been promoting ‘The Odyssey’ alongside her husband Tom Holland, along with co-stars Anne Hathaway, Matt Damon, Lupita Nyong’o, Robert Pattinson, and Charlize Theron, all converging on the city ahead of the film’s July 17 release.

With the film now in theaters and the promotional cycle winding down, Zendaya’s Athena-inspired press tour looks set to be remembered as one of the more ambitious fashion storytelling efforts of the year.

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