‘Off Campus’ instantly becomes a cultural sensation. The romance series, based on Elle Kennedy’s beloved book franchise, features a standout costume moment that catches the attention of none other than Jennifer Lopez herself. Mika Abdalla, who plays the main character Allie Hayes, wears a recreation of Lopez’s iconic 2000 Grammys Versace jungle dress in a viral scene that lands on the global pop star’s social media feed.
Jennifer Lopez praises ‘Off Campus’ on social media
The scene happens when Allie crosses paths with hockey player Dean Di Laurentis (played by Stephen Kalyn) at a Halloween party. According to PEOPLE, Jennifer Lopez’s original dress was first modeled by Amber Valletta in the fashion house’s Versace Spring/Summer 2000 show in 1999 and was reintroduced to the runway on Lopez, now 56, who wore a reimagined version in 2019.With the clip gaining momentum online, it came as no surprise that it landed on Jennifer Lopez’s very own X feed. The icon took a moment to praise ‘Off Campus’ with a repost that read, “love this shooooww.” Her endorsement further amplified the viral moment, bringing even more attention to the costume and the series.
Mika Abdalla details the process of wearing the recreation dress
Mika Abdalla, 26, previously detailed what goes into creating and wearing the dress in an interview with Betches UK on TikTok. “It was unreal. [The dress] is built from scratch. My first fitting was like, put on this nude leotard and we’re going to cut it up and pin all this stuff to you,” Abdalla says. “It was five fittings. It was insane, I was so taped in. I was ready to dance the night away.”In an interview with the Outlet, the actress also admitted that her intuition led her to believe that the scene, which isn’t included in Elle Kennedy’s book series, on which the show is based, would resonate with audiences.“I had a feeling, especially because it happened so early on,” she said, before adding, “When we were getting close to the dress being finished, and I saw what it was going to [look like], when we were shooting it, I was like, ‘huh, I think people are going to like this.”
More about ‘Off Campus’
The romance series premiered on Prime Video and is based on the ‘Off Campus’ books. The franchise consists of five books, four of which centre around the love lives of different players on Briar University’s hockey team. The adaptation captures the essence of Kennedy’s beloved series whilst adding fresh moments like the Jennifer Lopez dress recreation that capture modern audiences’ attention and drive social media conversation.
