It was at the dawn of the new millennium, February 2000, that a young Jennifer Lopez stepped onto the Grammys red carpet in an emerald-green Versace gown daringly slashed to the navel. According to fashion fable, the look sparked such a frenzy on the fledgling World Wide Web that Google Image Search was born.
Flash forward to now and the time warp is real: in September, Lopez emerged at Milan Fashion week in a reimagination of the iconic chiffon number, strutting down the runway with as much sass as the first time around. Again, she broke the internet.
“We knew it would be a nice, fun moment, but we didn’t know – just like the first time – that it would be this big thing. It was so … viral” she says of the reaction to her appearance at Donatella [Versace] show. “It was crazy. But it was also fun because Donatella was so happy and the energy in the room was great”.
From show stopping runway star, to scoring rave reviews in 2019’s female helmed stripper heist Hustlers. J.Lo is taking the power into her own hands and is encouraging women to take control of their own lives.
“As a woman, I think it is very important to be in control. Not everybody, of course, can be that lucky. I’ve always been really entrepreneurial. Ever since I was little, I felt like I would have my own career and have different kinds of things that I did. That was always my mindset – even as a kid – that I wouldn’t just do one thing, I would do many things,” says Lopez, now 50.
How does Lopez find time for family while juggling her on the rise acting career, releasing new chart-topping music and heading up a multimillion-dollar perfume empire?
“My kids come first. That might mean I’m on an aeroplane more than I otherwise would be, or flying through the night, but it’s so important to be there and watch them grow up,” she says.
“Hard work pays off. Find something that you love doing and are passionate about, and don’t stop until you accomplish your goals. It’s OK to make mistakes, but it’s how you come back from them and grow that makes it all worth it in the end.”
It’s a long way from Jenny from The Block, but Lopez has shown that she will never go out of style.
Read the full interview in the August issue of marie claire – on sale Thursday.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
