Valentino unveils new face: Zendaya

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Dec 4, 2020

The house of Valentino has anointed a new face for the brand, Zendaya, the Emmy award-winning actress who has previously designed collections for Tommy Hilfiger.
 

Only the second woman of color to win an Emmy, for her performances in the hit HBO drama series Euphoria, Zendaya marks a significant change at the Rome-based couture house.
 
Though only 24, the Californian-born actress – whose full name is Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman - has also already appeared in two Spider-Man movies; and in The Greatest Showman. While in her recording career, Zendaya’s self-titled debut album entered the Billboard 200 at 51; and her single Rewrite the Stars from The Greatest Showman reached the Top 20 in the UK.
 
“I am honored to have been chosen as the face of Valentino. I’m so excited to begin this amazing collaboration with Pierpaolo and the entire Valentino family,” enthused Zendaya.
 
Born in Oakland, California, Zendaya also modelled for Old Navy before landing a leading role in the Disney sitcom Shake It Up.  Besides creating her own fashion line, Daya by Zendaya, the actress also jointly designed two acclaimed collections, Tommy x Zendaya, taking her bow with Hilfiger in see-now-buy-now shows in Paris and in Harlem.

“The reason why we chose Zendaya as the new face for Valentino is because she perfectly embodies and represents what Valentino is and stands for, today. She is a powerful and fierce young woman that uses her talent and her work to express herself, her values and her generation as well,” explained Valentino Creative Director Pierpaolo Piccioli.
 
The designer added that “awareness, inclusion, empathy and contemporary romanticism” are the core values of the Valentino community, making Zendaya a natural representative of his “contemporary concept of romanticism.”
 
No high fashion novice, Zendaya has made frequent front-row appearances at major shows – from Armani Privé in the Petit Palais in Paris to Louis Vuitton in Rio’s Contemporary Art Museum in 2017.
 
“Zendaya and Pierpaolo share the identity values of a generation she speaks for, in her most spontaneous, personal and progressive way,” said the house in its release.