A bikini top, flared pants and a red carpet from the summer of 2000. Then came the two-word review. Halloween has become fashion’s favorite exam. Every year, stars dig through the archives for a look that will instantly be recognized, and every year most of them settle for a costume. A few go for something harder: a moment.
The moment, this year, was from July 2000. Halle Berry arrived at the premiere of X-Men, the film in which she debuted as Storm, in a string bikini top and flared pants, a look that felt daring then and still feels like a time capsule of the era. For Halloween 2026, Zendaya, 30, and her longtime stylist Law Roach recreated it, right down to the details, and Roach shared the result on Instagram.
Halle Berry Needed Just Two Words
The internet did what it does: side-by-side photos, then a flood of comparisons. On Oct. 31, Berry answered one of those posts on X. Her verdict, with a sparkle emoji, was two words long: “She won.”
It was gracious, funny and very Halle. No competition, no fuss, just a clear handover from one generation to the next.
Why the 2000 Look Still Resonates
Context matters. In 2000, Berry was on the verge of the biggest years of her career. Two years after that premiere, she became the first Black woman to win the Academy Award for Best Actress, for Monster’s Ball. Looking back, the X-Men red carpet feels like the start of that run: confident, playful and entirely her own.
The outfit itself is also very much of its moment. The low-slung flare and the barely-there top were the essence of turn-of-the-millennium glamour, the same era that keeps coming back on runways and in our closets.
How Zendaya and Law Roach Made It Theirs
Zendaya and Roach have built a reputation for treating fashion history as a playground rather than a museum. Their red carpets often nod to past icons without ever feeling like costumes, which is exactly why this tribute landed. Roach, never one to over-explain, has a gift for saying a lot in very few words, as he did when he described Zendaya’s wedding dress in three.
The choice of Berry also says something. Zendaya did not pick a cartoon or a movie villain. She picked a real woman, at a real turning point, and treated her red carpet as a piece of history worth studying. That is a compliment that goes well beyond a costume.
How to Borrow the Look, Off the Red Carpet
If you want to borrow the spirit rather than the bikini, keep it simple. Pick one era-defining piece, a flared pant, a slip dress or a tiny shoulder bag, and wear it with today’s proportions. Let your hair do some of the work, the way Zendaya often does with her low-effort bangs. The lesson worth borrowing is that a tribute works best when it is precise, not literal.
The Bottom Line
In 2000, Halle Berry wore this look to the X-Men premiere. Twenty-six years later, Zendaya recreated it, and Berry needed just two words to crown her: “She won.”
