Zendaya’s Emmy Awards Dress Was Inspired by Batman Villain Poison Ivy

Spider-Man: Far From Home and Euphoria star Zendaya shut down the red carpet at the 2019 Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, thanks to her stunning look in green Vera Wang dress, with some Cartier bling as an accessory. Well, fans may have been marveling at how gorgeous Zendaya looked at the Emmys, but they have DC Comics to thank for it. That’s because Zendaya’s dress was inspired by none-other than Batman villain / anti-hero, Poison Ivy! The connection was confirmed by Zendaya’s stylist, Law Roach, as part of his Instagram story. Check out Roach’s posts below, which reveal which particular versions of Poison Ivy inspired Zendaya’s Vera Wang dress:

From what we see here, Uma Thurman’s live-action Poison Ivy from Batman & Robin was one major influence on Zendaya’s look, while Ivy’s costume from Batman: The Animated Series is another. The animated Ivy’s bodice provided the shape of Zendaya’s dress, while the the slip-style lower part of the dress is brilliantly in homage to the ivy-covered look of Thurman’s Poison Ivy in Joel Schumacher’s much-maglined Batman film. Like good fashion, the dress evokes the association with Ivy, but still makes this Zendaya’s look and moment, instead of slipping over into cosplay territory.

“She’d rather be seen in green…. @zendaya wearing custom @verawanggang @brian_atwood and @cartier #atyledbyLAW #fLAWless” —Law Roach

It remains to be seen if Zendaya’s dress was purely fashion statement, or something deeper. This past week marked the Global Climate Strikes, a movement of people all over the world trying to bring awareness of (and demand action on) the Climate Crisis. Poison Ivy’s main motivation is environmental conservation (to a psychotic degree), so again, a dress made in her honor could send that kind of message without saying anything at all.

Could she also be auditioning? The Spider-Man franchise just hit a major hurdle as Sony has pulled the character out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe; meanwhile, DC Films has been rumored to be looking for a Poison Ivy for a potential Gotham City Sirens film. Good time to hop off a sinking ship? You decide.

Of course, Zendaya recently defined her fashion sense in a different light, during an acceptance speech for the Fashion Force Awards at New York Fashion Week:

“Fashion I think for me is really just emotional… It’s allowed me to just really say I don’t give a F, you know what I am saying? It’s allowed me to really find out who I am and be more courageous and more fearless,” she said in her acceptance speech.”

Spider-Man: Far From Home is now on home video.