Was Jennifer Lopez’s Iconic Versace Dress the Inspiration Behind Google Images?
20 years after Jennifer Lopez stunned in a skin-clad Donatella Versace gown at the Grammy Awards, the dress continues to steal the show. JLo decided to resurrect the dress at a recent fashion show and has social media in a frenzy.
Fashion has always been one of the singer’s strong points as she tops every “best dressed” list imaginable, but the Versace gown has proven to be synonymous with her name. The dress has been dubbed the standout of all of Lopez’s looks over the years.
Lopez would credit the Versace dress as being her “biggest fashion moment ever.” Many would agree as the gown took on a life of its own, even prompting the start of one of the biggest online search platforms ever.
JLO Wears Versace gown to 2000 Grammy Awards
2000 was a breakout year for JLo. Having been known as an actress and a great dancer, she set out to prove herself as a singer and entertainer. With the release of her first single “If You Had My Love” in 1999, she showed the world that she was a triple threat.
The Grammy’s would be her first big award show and she would be sure to be a showstopper. No one was prepared for the head turner Lopez proved to be when she walked the red carpet in the custom made Donatella Versace jungle print gown with a deep plunge neckline and high slit, showing all of the Latina star’s curves.
Lopez went on to present the award show’s first award of the evening with David Duchovny, who joked that all eyes were on her. The gown made magazine covers and inserts for months following the award show.
Was JLo’s Versace dress the start of Goggle Images?
Apparently, magazine and newspaper clippings of the Versace gown were not enough for those mesmerized by Jennifer Lopez in the famous dress. The world was so so fascinated that they turned to the internet to search for photo evidence.
Google turned out to be the website searched most; but, Google Images did not exist at that time. In an essay published on Project Syndicate in 2015, Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google, explained how the hunt for pictures of Lopez in the Versace dress spearheaded the creation of Google Images.
“At the time, it was the most popular search query we had ever seen,” Schmidt wrote. “But we had no sure-fire way of getting users exactly what they wanted: J-Lo wearing that dress. As a result, Google Image Search was born.”
20 years later, JLo’s Versace gown keeps winning
JLo was humbled to discover that Google Images was birthed out of her famous fashion moment. In a YouTube video titled “Moments of Fashion,” she expressed her shock and gratitude. “It just goes to show you the power of fashion and the power of those types of moments,” she said. “And I know people try to make it frivolous at times, but what those things do is they give people an inspiration. It puts a beautiful moment out into the world.”
The dress continues to reign as one of the greatest gowns of all time. Most recently, America retailer Concepts designed a sneaker that pays homage dress and it’s sold for purchase. JLo revived the dressed this week at Milan Fashion Week, closing a runway show with a catwalk that gave her a standing ovation.
It doesn’t look like the Versace gown will be put to bed anytime soon!
