Zendaya's Beaded Braids Are a Sweet Homage to Venus and Serena Williams

The perfect finale to her 'Challengers' press tour.

Everyone, stop what you’re doing—Zendaya couldn’t resist serving us one more look this week, and it might be one of her best ever. Led by her constant collaborator and "Image Architect," Law Roach, Zendaya channeled Venus and Serena Williams' 1998 Vogue cover in a beaded braid look that’ll go down in history.

On April 18, Roach posted the photos of Zendaya on his Instagram with the caption “An ode to the GREATS @venuswilliams @serenawilliams. We thank you for all you have done!” The photos show Zendaya in a black and white striped gown and beaded braids, which is almost the exact same look the Williams sisters wore in their Vogue shoot.

At first glance, you wouldn’t even recognize the actor, who had the Carolina Herrara team recreate the black and white dress from the original photos. Iconic is an understatement.

On the beauty side, Zendaya worked with hairstylist Kim Kimble to create the wig, and Ursula Stephen to style it. The trio were able to re-create the Williams sisters's iconic beaded look. The light yellow and blue beads framed the actor's face and formed faux square bangs. For makeup, the 27-year-old had a bronzed, glowy look via makeup artist Ernesto Casillas (who also took the photos).

Zendaya has been channeling tenniscore for the past few weeks with her method dressing over the course of the Challengers press tour. She’s worn everything from white coquette tennis gowns and bows to transforming into a tennis ball in a neon green dress. According to the Instagram account Data But Make it Fashion, tennis style increased by 80% in popularity this month.

At the time of the original Vogue photoshoot, the Williams sisters were only 16 and 17 years old, which is proof of their long-lasting influence not only on the sport’s legacy, but its style as well. As a grand finale to the press tour, Zendaya and her team paid respect to her muses in the best way possible. It was the perfect bow to tie up the present that has been her Challengers era.

Read the original article on Byrdie.