Zendaya Attended the Oscars Wearing a Diamond Rolex

Zendaya wore a brown dress and a Rolex watch to the 2026 Oscars after skipping the red carpet. — (Image credit: Getty Images)

If you're anything like me, you watched the Oscars red carpet like a hawk, waiting for Zendaya to arrive, only to be sorely disappointed that she was a no-show. Over three hours into the ceremony, however, Zendaya surprised everyone and strolled onto the stage to present Paul Thomas Anderson with the top directing award.

Accompanied by Robert Pattinson, her costar in The Drama, Zendaya wore a striking brown one-shouldered custom Louis Vuitton dress. It was a more low-key look than we're used to seeing on the fashion star, but it made total sense considering she was there as a presenter, not a nominee. Elegant and classic, the draped dress immediately shot to the top of my best dressed list. (Elle Fanning and Kylie Jenner also made my personal best-of roundup.) Oh, and did you notice Zendaya's diamond Rolex watch?

Zendaya finished her look with Prada Beauty makeup. “To complement Zendaya’s earth toned dress, I played up her features and complexion using smoldering browns and warm caramels,” her makeup artist Ernesto Casillas said in a statement.

Scroll down to see what Zendaya wore onstage at the 2026 Academy Awards after skipping the red carpet.

Zendaya wore a brown dress to the 2026 Oscars.

On Zendaya: Louis Vuitton dress; Rolex watch; Cindy Chao Art Jewel White Label Collection diamond earrings and ring; Prada Beauty makeup

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Erin got her start as a Who What Wear intern in 2011—back when the site only published a single story per day. (We have since increased that number twentyfold.) She graduated magna cum laude from USC and lives in Los Angeles. In college, she also interned at Refinery29, where she was promoted to editorial assistant and then assistant editor. After nearly three years at R29, she came back to WWW in 2015, where she is now the Associate Director of Fashion News. From the Oscars to the Met Gala, she leads the site's entire red carpet coverage strategy. She specializes in celebrity and fashion news but also enjoys writing travel features and runway reports. She frequently contributes to WWW's social accounts and has a sizable following on her personal TikTok.