Zendaya Is the Youngest Recipient of CFDA’s Fashion Icon Award

CFDA announced that Zendaya will receive the Fashion Icon Award and Anya Taylor-Joy will be given the Face of the Year Award on November 10 — details

Zendaya attends the ‘Dune’ film premiere in London on October 18, 2021. David Fisher/Shutterstock

A force in fashion! Whether she’s dressed in Versace, Dior or Moschino, Zendaya has made it abundantly clear that she slays every single red carpet.

And her stellar style isn’t going unnoticed. The CFDA, the Council of Fashion Designers of America, announced that the 25-year-old actress will be the youngest ever (!!) recipient of their Fashion Icon Award. The honor, which “recognizes her global impact on fashion,” will be presented at the November 10 ceremony.

The award is certainly well deserved, as the star has come quite a long way since she hit the spotlight in 2010 with Disney’s Shake It Up. Her initial red carpet events were marked by jean shorts and tights, flannel shirts and even bargain buys.

Zendaya attends the 93rd Annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles on April 25, 2021. Matt Sayles/A.M.P.A.S./Shutterstock

“When I was 14 and at my first movie premiere, my outfit was a bunch of stuff that I had from Target. And I thought I was fly. I felt cool,” she said in an interview with InStyle.

Today, Zendaya, who works with stylist Law Roach, has most definitely upped the ante for her red carpet appearances. She’s stunned in a Tom Ford breastplate for the 2020 Critics Choice Awards, rocked a yellow Valentino dress at the 2021 Oscars and made a jaw-dropping statement in Dolce & Gabbana at the 2017 Met Gala.

Oh, and don’t even get Us started on her current Dune press tour. Because from her sequin Rick Owens sculptural gown at the London premiere to her skin-hugging Balmain naked number in Cannes, every look has been more fabulous than the last.

She’s also become a designer in her own right, laughing a collection of gender-fluid designs via her brand Daya by Zendaya in 2013 and teaming up with Tommy Hilfiger on a collaboration “inspired by strong, iconic women.”

To add to her very stacked resume (seriously, she does it all!), the Malcolm & Marie star is also an ambassador for fashion house Valentino, jewelry brand Bulgari and Lancôme makeup.

The Greatest Showman actress isn’t the only fashion forward actress being honored at the event. Anya Taylor-Joy, who found her breakout role in Queen’s Gambit, will also be an honoree for the evening’s festivities. She will receive the first-ever Face of the Year award.

Not only was the 25-year-old star’s on-screen style simply stunning (she made chess look very, very chic), but her off-screen looks are just as good. The Emma star hosted SNL in May in 9 different off-the-runway looks and has dominated virtually every red carpet event to do.