Amber Valletta shut down the red carpet in a classic throwback look.
The 51-year-old model arrived at the CFDA Awards Monday in the iconic green Versace dress she first helped make famous in 1999.
Valletta stunned in the iconic green jungle print dress with a deep plunging neckline and an extra-high slit, which Jennifer Lopez later wore in 2000.
Valletta paired the look with gold high heels and statement earrings, opting for natural-toned makeup and wearing her short blonde hair in a deep side part.
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Lopez made headlines after wearing the gown to the Grammy Awards in February 2000, generating so much buzz that it led to the creation of Google Images due to the high volume of users searching for images of the dress.
Though many associate the dress with Lopez, it was actually Valletta who wore it first, walking the runway in the green Versace number during the fashion house’s runway show in spring 1999.
“I think J.Lo wore it incredibly,” she told WSJ Magazine’s The One in May 2021. “It’s just an amazing dress that Donatella [Versace] designed that just has such longevity and is an iconic piece in fashion history. I don’t think it’s about who wears anything best. I think we’re all uniquely beautiful and have individually something to bring.”
Valletta also spoke to Vogue about the iconic gown. She said it “was a massive iconic moment” when Lopez wore the dress and that “it’s kind of cool to be a part of” the history associated with the dress, before making sure to add, “But I wore it first.” She later wore a shortened version of the dress on the runway in 2000.
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Valletta shared photos from the CFDA red carpet on Instagram, writing in the caption, “Always have and always will be a Versace girl 💚💚💚.”
“When I first wore this dress in 1999, it felt like a dream come true. All these years later, it feels even more meaningful,” she wrote in the caption. “Thank you, @donatella_versace , for your loyal friendship, your love, and the way you continue to make women feel powerful, beautiful, and seen. Your impact on my life and on the world is beyond measure.”
Designer Donatella Versace took to the comments section of the post to share a message with her friend, writing, “What a MOMENT!!! I appreciate and love you so much, Amber. Thank you for being there for me last night 💜.”
Fans also jumped in, with one adding, “She said “i started it and i will finish it! ” ICONIC 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏,” and another writing, “I love this moment then and now.”
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Lopez wore the dress again at a Versace runway show during Milan Fashion Week in September 2019. Earlier that year, she shared on the YouTube series “Moments of Fashion” that she almost didn’t wear the iconic dress and that the look came together at the last minute because of her busy schedule.
“Usually if you come to a fitting of mine, there’s, like, tons of dresses. There’s always so many choices. But this day, we really had a choice between two dresses. One was kind of like a white dress, and the other was the Versace jungle print dress,” she said. “I put on the green dress and come out and Benny [Medina, Lopez’s longtime manager] goes, ‘That’s it. That’s it. Don’t even talk about it. That’s the dress.'”
