Jennifer Lopez walked in the finale of Versace's recent Milan Fashion Week show, donning a replica of the famed green Versace dress she wore to the 2000 Grammys. The standout moment came in celebration of the 20th anniversary of "the dress," as Lopez was joined by Donatella Versace to cap off the commemoration.
Due to the overwhelming number of online searches for Lopez and the dress following the 2000 Grammys, J-Lo and the iconic green dress helped spawn the creation of Google Images, as we previously highlighted here. Because of this, some believed that Google may have sponsored the dress and/or Versace's recent Spring 2020 show in Milan, however, Donatella herself confirms this was not the case.
"This show was a celebration of great milestones for both companies: for Versace it was the 20th Anniversary of Jungle dress that Jennifer Lopez wore at the Grammy Awards and for Google the creation of a new tool that did not exist before because of that dress: Google Images," Donatella told us.
"You know, that night of 20 years ago, so many people took to the internet searching for Jennifer in that dress, that back then it because the most popular search of the history of Google till then. However, what they were looking for, an actual image, did not come up in the results. Therefore, Google had to come up with a solution and it embraced the opportunity to show how technology really spring from people's needs as much as fashion does," she went on to add.
"Today, we live in a world in which technology rules, but 20 years ago it was fashion, a dress, or better a person in a particular dress, to inspire technological advance. I am very proud of this, because Versace was able to go beyond the realm of fashion and become part of the cultural conversation. It was a partnership in the true meaning of the word: there was no money involved, simply the willingness to celebrate an important milestone for both of us."
When asked flat-out if Google paid for the recent Versace show, Donatella replied, "Absolutely not." She continued, "This is a moment in which fashion is sort of under attack for being disposable. Well, this print is 20 years old and look how actual it still is."
"Let’s leave aside the incredible moment in which Jennifer stepped out on the catwalk, because there is a whole collection featuring that print. Fashion is something durable, it is not just part of our past, but can be reinterpreted and reimagined maintaining the same codes. Think of the Safety Pin or the Medusa head or the Greek Key: these have been elements of the DNA of Versace since its beginnings and have always been a key part of our products. What changes is how you use them. The same goes with the Jungle print. What changed on Friday, for example, were the silhouettes, the materials, the techniques, but the print was the same."
On this week’s episode of The Dropcast, we are joined by Hussein Suleiman and Abderr Trabsini, co-founders of Amsterdam-based fashion brand Daily Paper. The partners blend their African and Dutch cultures to create heritage-infused streetwear pieces grounded in contemporary design. Listen below.
