Amber Valletta Wears Iconic J.Lo Dress at CFDA Awards, 26 Years Later

 It is the dress that led to the creation of Google Images. 

And the legacy of Jennifer Lopez’s iconic Versace gown lives on 25 years later, as Amber Valletta, 51, wore the same dress to the CFDA Awards at at NYC’s American Museum of Natural History on Monday night.

The supermodel ressurected the plunging green dress for the event where she presented Donatella Versace with the Positive Change Award, honouring the Italian designer for her LGBTQ+ advocacy work and support of young talent.

Amber looked breathtaking as she showed off her perky bust and taut abs in the billowing gown, featuring a perilously low cut and high-rise thigh split. 

While fans remember Jennifer in the dress, Amber did in fact wear the look before the songstress, as she graced the Spring/Summer 1999 Versace runway in the gown. She previously stated: ‘It’s kind of cool to be part of that history’. 

In 2023 interview with Vogue, Amber said: ‘I wore it first… I think this was like the pinnacle of, like, fierce Versace sexiness, blond ambitionIt was just like, Donatella, Donatella, Donatella. I wore it on the runway…

‘Then obviously, I did the campaign. Then, J.Lo wore it to the Grammys. It was a massive iconic moment when she wore that dress. I think it was just so ahead of its time and just said, ‘I’m woman and hear me roar … Literally from the jungle.”’

‘This dress has been Googled more times than any other look in history. It literally broke the internet when she wore it, so it’s kind of cool to be a part of that history’. 

In her ressurection of her look, Amber showcased her time-defying looks, showing off her incredible figure complete with taut abs. 

She wore her hair in a near-identical style to her 1999 runway look – only further highlighting how her looks have remained the same through the decades. 

Jennifer’s appearance at 42nd Grammy Awards ceremony on the arm of her then-boyfriend P Diddy made history, with Geri Halliwell, Christy Turlington and Donatella herself joining Amber in wearing the gown. 

Speaking about the piece of fashion history, Jennifer previously said: ‘It was a nice dress. I had no idea it was going to become such a big deal’. 

Jennifer resurrected the gown in a tweaked version at the Milan Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2020, where she put on a jaw-dropping display. 

In January 2015, Google’s president Eric Schmidt revealed that the massive attention to this dress was the motivation for the creation of Google Images.

In 2000, Google searches were limited to simple pages of text with links, however the developers worked on developing this further, realising that an image search was required to answer “the most popular search” they had seen to date – the dress.

The fame of the gown was akin to that of the Versace safety-pin gown, worn by Elizabeth Hurley to the 1994 premiere of her then-boyfriend Hugh Grant’s movie Four Weddings and a Funeral and said to launch her career. 

Donatella’s late brother Gianni, who was murdered in 1997, designed the safety pin dress however it was Donatella who dreamed up the iconic green number. 

Speaking about the address after the 2000’s red carpet, Donatella noted she was not prepared for the reaction to the gown, saying: ‘It was an unexpected success…

‘The next day she [Jennifer Lopez] was everywhere and people were talking about her in that dress. It was one of those moments like the one that Gianni [Versace] had with Elizabeth Hurley and clothes-pins.’