Fashion Lava: Jennifer Lopez Feels Like “the Sexiest Woman in the World” at Dolce & Gabbana’s Alta Moda Show in the Shadow of Mount Etna

When Sicily’s Mount Etna erupted last week, local air traffic came to a standstill. The volcano was still smoking last night as Jennifer Lopez and her team, freshly landed in Catania, pulled up at Dolce & Gabbana’s Alta Moda show. Etna was framed on the horizon as J.Lo entered Radicepura, the famously fertile botanical garden and filming location for The Godfather Part II chosen by the designers for the latest installment of their very Italian, family-style alternative to Parisian haute couture.

The multi-day event continues tonight with Alta Sartoria, the menswear collection, in Taormina’s ancient amphitheater, before closing on Thursday with a beach party for the more than 300 clients, family, and friends who have traveled to this historic spot to revel in Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana’s maximalist aesthetic and commitment to craft. That closing party’s centrepiece will include a concert by an as-yet-unannounced performer: can you guess who it might be?

Lopez was running a little behind schedule, but kindly paused to chat with Vogue before erupting into the palm-framed show space wearing a lavishly bejeweled Alta Moda wiggle dress, framed by a golden cape. Then, after the show, which featured 100 looks and unfolded over a languorous hour of runway performance, we caught up again over pasta alla Norma at the dinner. By this point, she was wearing a regal goddess gown in lemon chiffon that had been draped with gelato swirls of dressmaking bravura. Those pre- and post-show chats revealed Lopez’s passion for performance through dress: she’s bona fide fashion lava. Below, lightly edited, is how the conversation flowed.

[Pre-show]: Ciao, Jennifer! How are you?

“Great! We just arrived, and then we ran to get ready, and ran to make it for the show. I think we’re a little late, but there’s no late in Italy, right?”

I think they’ll hold the show for a while for you. This is your second Alta Moda show after Venice in 2021, right? I remember you did a photoshoot there in a gondola…

“Yes! For that show, I wore a pair of trousers, a corset that was also jeweled, and a long cape and crown. That was one of my favorite Dolce looks that I’ve ever worn. But I’ve had a very long history with Dolce & Gabbana. I mean, they have been champions of mine. I went to one of my first Met Galas [in 2004] with Stefano and Domenico, and it was one of the best nights. I wore a beautiful big black gown, and we put my hair up a bit like tonight, and it was very signature Dolce & Gabbana.”

Whether you’re in a gondola, on a red carpet or performing on stage, what do you look for in what you wear?

“I’ve always responded to Dolce & Gabbana because it feels like they really love women through their clothes. It’s always had a kind of sexiness, that Italian sexiness, to it. You think of Sophia Loren or Gina Lollobrigida—these actresses who are so legendary and who defined the Italian woman as sexy, beautiful, and strong. So, I guess when I put their clothes on, I kind of take on that persona and character. Being an actress, clothes always help me become something. I think I love clothes because I love being an actress: it’s stepping into a character. And when the clothes are this sensational, you know, you feel like you’re a queen for a night… I feel like a bombshell, like a queen, like the sexiest woman in the world: I feel all the things!”

And what are you looking forward to getting up to while you’re here in Taormina?

“Italy is one of my favorite places in the world. So, seeing the show tonight, doing my performance in a few days—I’m excited about all of it. I just look forward to being here. So let’s go and see the show!”

[Post-show, two hours later]: Ciao ancora! So, you’ve seen the show, you’ve changed, you’ve had some dinner. What were your impressions of the collection?

“You know, Domenico and Stefano never cease to amaze me because they stick so closely to who they are, but they also reinvent themselves every single time. I think that’s just such a difficult line to tread. I was just blown away. It’s just beauty. Pure beauty: the clothes, the setting, and even the hair and the makeup, everything—the accessories, the way they style, all of it. That’s why I’ve been in love with Dolce & Gabbana for so many years. It never fails me.”

I was just speaking with Stefano, and he was saying: “We just do what we do. We do it personally, sincerely, and we are independent, so we stay free to express our identity.”

“That’s it! You can see it, right? It’s funny because what I said immediately after the show was: ‘I love that the brand is the brand. It is what it is, and you can count on that.’ And I think that’s what people want. A brand is a promise. Somebody taught me that a long time ago. And what you promise, you have to deliver—and Domenico and Stefano deliver every single time. It’s real, but it’s elevated too, and you feel like you’re in a dream. It’s exactly what you want a couture house to be. It’s exactly what you want a fashion house to be. You know, I left that collection thinking: I want to have more life, a bigger life, so I can wear these clothes. I need to live in this, because this is the life I want to live. That’s the aspiration they create. It’s so interesting, isn’t it?”

Before the show, you mentioned how, as a performer, clothes help you inhabit your role. Now you are saying that certain clothes can even suggest what that role could be.

“Yes, they inspire you to become the woman who lives in that dress. And I do feel like I could be that woman. It also makes me think: I want to live more of this life so I can wear more of these pieces. These shows really are Alta Moda—a higher fashion. It’s artistry.”

One last question. I hear a rumor that you might be performing while you are here in Taormina, which is a very special place. I wanted to ask: what is your most memorable place and performance?

“That’s a good question because it can mean so many different things. I’ve performed for kings in their private homes and in stadiums for tens of thousands of people—in Warsaw, in Brazil… In the end, it’s all about energy. The energy that you come with, and that they come with. If you have that, something beautiful happens. And really, the setting doesn’t matter. It could be a club with 40 people or a stadium with 100,000. When it happens, it’s an insane blessing and a privilege.”

Buona notte, Jennifer, and grazie per la chiacchierata!