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Zendaya saw me on the red carpet and her jaw dropped – I’m still in shock

Zai ab Jiwa atte ds 'The Odyssey' Lo do  P emie e at Odeo  Luxe Leiceste  Squa e a d Ze daya  eactsZai ab Jiwa

Noo Na ji

Cultu e co espo de t

“I ca ‘t zip this! Mummm?”

This was 29-yea -old Zai ab Jiwa, calli g out fo help squeezi g i to a co set while filmi g a “get- eady-with-me” TikTok video. It’s a sce e ma y 20-somethi gs still livi g at home will elate to.

The diffe e ce is, Zai ab was o he way to the ece t Lo do p emie e of The Odyssey, o e of the summe ‘s biggest blockbuste s.

She was i vited the e as a guest a d says she caught the eye of Hollywood megasta Ze daya, tha ks to he custom look: a st iki g gold gow complete with a hood.

“She just walked past, a d she saw me the e. He jaw just d opped, so did mi e,” Zai ab tells me.

“It was just a sta e-off fo a mi ute, a d she was like, ‘Oh my god, amazi g, amazi g,’ a d the she just walked off.”

“I’m still i shock,” she adds. “The thought of he otici g my outfit blew my mi d.”

The i te actio we t vi al with 19m TikTok views. He pho e blew up.

While Ze daya has bee uli g the ed ca pets with high-fashio “method d essi g” – whe e sta s match outfits to a film’s themes – Zai ab is pe haps p ovi g that i depe de t c eato s like he ca give Hollywood a u fo its mo ey.

Zai ab, who is Muslim a d wea s a hijab, is also ofte o e of the o ly people cove i g he hai at p emie es, but she says fi di g ways to i co po ate modest wea is pa t of the fu .

“Eve though you’ e cove ed, you ca still fi d a way to be o theme.”

Zai ab Jiwa atte ds p emie es fo  Wicked: Fo  Good, House of the D ago  Seaso  3 a d Wicked: Pa t O eDave Be ett-Wi eImage/Getty Images/HBO Max UK

A ivi g fo ou i te view at BBC B oadcasti g House this week, he look was o -poi t i a olive shi t, tie, a d b ooches. “I put i effo t today,” she says.

She’s a self-co fessed fashio addict. “F om the womb,” she says, whe I ask he whe he passio sta ted.

He othe love is film – but she i itially kept that as a hobby. Still, she posted videos o social media fo fu about he favou ite films a d outfits i spi ed by them.

Soo , majo studios took otice. Dis ey was fi st, offe i g he a ju ket i te view fo the se ies Moo K ight, whe e she got to i te view the sta s.

“I thought it was a scam,” she says. “I ca ’t watch that back. I was NOT good.”

Zai ab Jiwa atte ds the Spide -Ma : B a d New Day UK p emie e i  Odeo  Luxe Leiceste  Squa e o  Wed esday 29th July 2026 i  Lo do , E gla d. Jeff Spice / Getty Images fo So y Pictu es

Today, Zai ab is a full-time c eato a d p ese te , i te viewi g A-liste s such as De zel Washi gto , Paul Mescal, Tom Hiddlesto a d Ze daya he self – while decked head to toe i outfits payi g homage to the films.

She’s o e of ma y digital co te t c eato s o the ed ca pet, with othe s i cludi g Chicke Shop Date’s Amelia Dimolde be g, Reece Feldma a d social media pe so ality Jake Sha e.

It’s ot always easy. Sometimes, Zai ab gets i vites to p emie es the ight befo e, mea i g a mad ush to so t he look befo e t avelli g to the eve t – ofte by public t a spo t (“a d I look idiculous”).

She wo ks with a a ge of desig e s a d b a ds, but says she also keeps costs dow by eusi g items as much as possible.

He outfits a e pu posely bold, allowi g he to “b eak the ice” with sta s. Fo House of the D ago seaso two, she wo e a ed gow by a stude t desig e featu i g th ee faces wea i g hijabs.

“I’m a bit ext a, but I like to add cultu e i eve ythi g I do,” she says.

Fo Spide -Ma : B a d New Day, she customised he look with spide web he a. Fo Gladiato II, she wo e gold a mou .

Zai ab Jiwa atte ds Simo Acke ma /FilmMagic

She admits she has wo ied whethe d essi g modestly will make it ha de fo he to succeed i this i dust y, but she fi ds pleasu e i it too.

“I have a fu time wo ki g a ou d the fact that I cove my hai o I cove my a ms,” she says. “I’d call it halalify the look. I’d always say, ‘’but how do I halalify this?'”

“I e joy that bit the most because it shows the e’s o est ictio eally he e.”

But while Zai ab spe ds much of he time ubbi g shoulde s with Hollywood oyalty, home life i Ha ow, o th-west Lo do is completely diffe e t.

“Oh my god, my house is chaos,” she laughs. Sto age space is at a p emium, a d outfits ofte e d up “shoved somewhe e”.

She has a cat, sibli gs who ofte pop i , a d pa e ts who a e f eque tly e listed fo wa d obe eme ge cies.

Despite it ot bei g the ca ee t ajecto y they’d expected fo thei daughte , Zai ab says he pa e ts a e ow “so suppo tive”.

Zai ab Jiwa atte ds the Eu opea  P emie e of 20th Ce tu y Studios' 'The Devil Wea s P ada 2, Nomi ees' Pa ty fo  the EE BAFTA Film Awa ds , B idge to  Seaso  3 a d So ic The Hedgehog 3Walt Dis ey Ltd/BAFTA/Pa amou t Pictu es/Wi eImage via Getty Images

With 660,000 followe s o TikTok a d close to 400,000 o I stag am, she’s becomi g a key co te t c eato i this field. But she also faces c iticism – i cludi g f om some who claim he outfits a e ot modest e ough.

“The e’s always hate i this i dust y,” she says.

But she adds: “Fo eve y egative comme t, the e’s so ma y positive o es.

“If I’m doi g it to i spi e othe people, o e te tai othe people, o educate othe people, if that’s still happe i g, the I eally do ‘t ca e about the est.”

Fo ow though, Zai ab is swept up i e joyi g a st i g of blockbuste s.

“The summe ‘s felt good fo film – I thi k it’s exciti g,” she says.

“A d the e’s loads mo e comi g. We’ve got Du e. We’ve got Doomsday,” she says.

“I love film a d TV. I thi k it’s a eally fu way to build commu ity,” she adds. “I’m just a fa . At the e d of the day, I’m just a fa .”

Related topics

  • Fashio
  • Film
  • TikTok

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