When it comes to red carpets at the Sundance Film Festival, the fits are really all over the place.
Some stars dress for the cold in cozy and layered ensembles, like Ayo Edebiri in The Row, Sarah Jessica Parker in a Meruert Tolegren dress, a chunky cardigan and fuschia boots from her SJP line, or Chloe Sevigny in a full Saint Laurent look that featured a knit turtleneck, long velvet skirt, Diane boots and an oversized bomber jacket in satin with faux fur. Some step out in statement coats like Cynthia Erivo (in Stella McCartney), Bowen Yang or Callum Turner (in Louis Vuitton). Others keep it professional like Dave Franco and Alison Brie in sleek suits or Juliette Lewis in an oversized menswear look.
Jennifer Lopez, however, is not like the rest.
For Sunday night’s world premiere of her festival selection Kiss of the Spider Woman from musical maestro Bill Condon, the superstar multi-hyphenate hit the Eccles Center Theatre in one of the most glamorous gowns to be worn at Sundance in recent memory. Styled by longtime stylists Rob Zangardi and Mariel Haenn (with hair by A-list hair guru Chris Appleton), Lopez arrived in a sheer lace gown with glittering spiderweb details by Valdrin Sahiti paired with Hassanzadeh jewelry and a Tyler Ellis bag.
It was the ultimate method ensemble and the latest example of a trend that has eclipsed fad status to come become a staple of movie marketing. (See Margot Robbie on the Barbie rounds or Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo on the Wicked launch.)
But Lopez almost didn’t do it. “I battled with it,” she told The Hollywood Reporter on the red carpet before the screening. “I was, like, do I dress down for Sundance? But then I was, like, I think I just gotta be me — and I gotta be Spider Woman.”
Makes sense considering she knows the character so well. In Condon’s Kiss of the Spider Woman, Lopez gets the role of her dreams by playing two parts in the latest adaptation of the iconic project. The plot follows Valentín, a political prisoner played by Diego Luna, as he shares a cell with Molina, a window dresser played by Tonatiuh who is convicted of public indecency. The two form an unlikely bond as Molina recounts the plot of his favorite Hollywood musical starring his favorite silver screen diva, Ingrid Luna, played by Lopez. She also stars as the title character, a shadowy figure whose kiss can be fatal.
Though she didn’t reveal how long, Lopez continued by saying that she had been “saving this dress” for some time. “This is really the first time people are seeing it,” she added.
That list included Condon, and when he gave her a thumbs up, that’s the only opinion that mattered. “He loved it,” she said. “That’s all I cared about. He was, like, ‘Oh my god!’ So I was very happy.”
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