Zendaya is, for the first time in what seems like a lifetime, not promoting a film, an A24 series, or some kind of paid partnership with a water brand. The actor is instead laying down roots in west London—where she shares a home with boyfriend Tom Holland—and has been spotted enjoying normal-person things, like eating stone-fired pizzas in local gastro pubs, dog walking through Richmond Park, and shopping at the Waitrose in New Malden.
It is a strange thing to watch one of the world’s most famous women experience the unremarkable pleasures of your own hometown. Take, for example, this weekend, when Zendaya was photographed perusing the stalls at Notting Hill market in a cropped Agolde tank top, Beare Park slacks, knitted Bottega Veneta ballerina flats and a diminutive Louis Vuitton bag. The only thing more “west London” than that specific combination of items was the Ottolenghi—a deli-turned-Erewhon-style status symbol—shopping bag she sported alongside them. (See the photo here.)
As British Vogue‘s arts and lifestyle editor Hayley Maitland noted, Zendaya is one sausage roll away from becoming an honorary Brit. There have been trips to Hampton Court Palace, the erstwhile home of Henry VIII and his ill-fated wives, run-of-the-mill Gail’s trips that have, of course, ended up as tabloid fodder, and numerous evenings spent in the West End. And there will doubtless be even more Zendaya sightings to come, with Holland starring in Jamie Lloyd’s Romeo & Juliet until August. “I could not be more proud,” Zendaya said of her boyfriend’s headline role back in April. “I’m going to try to see as many shows as I possibly can.”
This article first appeared on British Vogue.
