The JLO Down

After two decades of superstardom, Jennifer Lopez is still on top, with a hit TV show, a must-see Vegas residency, and a new collaboration with Giuseppe Zanotti.

- Lauren McCarthy

IN THE VAST universe of 21st-century celebrity, Jennifer Lopez is in a galaxy of her own. After all, Lopez is a pioneer: the first (and still only) female entertainer to release a number-one album and a number-one film in the same week; an early recipient of the tongue-in cheek celeb nickname (J. Lo, which she was quick to embrace and still uses for her social-media handles), as well as its tabloid cousin, the singular A-list-couple moniker (remember Bennifer?); and a multi-hyphenate force in music, movies, and fashion for two decades.

One day, Lopez’s archive of memories will no doubt be channeled into a memoir or a museum. For now, though, she keeps them in a meticulously organized walk-in closet in her Bel Air mansion. “If you hear a song from a certain time and you’re like, ‘Oh, my God!,’ it takes you back to that period in your life,” she explains. “I do the same thing with my closet. I walk in and I see a hat or a pair of shoes or a coat, and I go, ‘Wow! I remember I was wearing that the day this happened, or I was walking down the street; or I heard this or my mom said that, or my boyfriend…’ You know what I mean? ‘And I was dating so-and-so…’”

Lopez’s closet is like a career retrospective come to life. “I love hoops, jeans, boots, and sparkle,” she says. “If you look back to my first red-carpet days, it’s short, sparkly Versace dresses. I know everybody knows the green jungle dress, but I’m more about Versace’s chain mail and Swarovski crystal dresses, which I’ve been doing since back then.”