Hellin Kay
Photo: Courtesy of Luxottica
Eva Mendes was recently named the face of Vogue Eyewear—and with her effortlessly chic style, it's easy to understand why the brand wants her. Between filming this month's much-anticipated crime drama The Place Beyond the Pines and spending time with beau Ryan Gosling (whom she met on the film's set), Mendes still manages to carve time for more fashionable pursuits. Up next? Designing her first clothing line for New York & Company, which she promises will have "a vintage feel and flattering cuts."
ELLE.com caught up with Mendes only weeks before the release of her new movie to talk all about her love of reading glasses, and her best (and worst) red carpet moments.
On her eagerness to collaborate with Vogue Eyewear: "I've been a fan for awhile so when the opportunity came up, I thought, 'What a beautiful marriage.' I'm also really excited to wear reading glasses, which I know sounds really weird. I'd wanted to wear reading glasses the right way for years. I tried wearing them at one point without a prescription—and I got called out by somebody and I got really embarrassed. So, I'm very excited that they can now be a real accessory for me."
On her go-to pair of sunglasses: "I live in Los Angeles, so it's difficult to find me out there without sunglasses. I like a slightly vintage feel. Not too retro, but with a slight wink to that old-school style."
On her favorite look from the campaign, shot by Mario Testino: "We were on the set in Los Angeles and it felt like we were in the south of Italy somewhere, because Mario was like, 'Let's eat!' And then we'd eat and then we'd shoot. He knows how to have fun and you feel that in the photographs. I especially love the yellow look with the dark green reading glasses. You can't see the bottom of my outfit, but it was really cute! They were little shorts that I'd probably never wear on the street, but somehow when you're in front of Mario Testino, it's okay."
On always having to have options for a red carpet look: "My everyday style isn't calculated, and my red carpet style is the same way. I'm kind of moody. I tend to feel good in one dress one day and then I don't feel as great in it the next day for whatever reason. I go with my moods. I've learned that having just one dress for a big event isn't enough—I need a couple of options!"
On her best (and worst!) red carpet looks ever: "One of my favorites was a champagne fringed Versace dress [that I wore] about three years ago for this movie Last Night that premiered in Rome. I just felt so good! [Laughs] And then from the opposite end of that, about six years ago, I went to the Ghost Rider premiere in New York and I wore—funny enough—another version of pink, but a purple-y pink dress. It's not the designer's fault. It was a beautiful dress. But how I accessorized this thing and what I did to my hair and makeup is just criminal. I looked like Princess Jasmine gone wrong."
On the quickest way to shake up your everyday look: "I try to avoid trends, but I'm really into putting stuff in my hair. I'm always putting my hair up. It's kind of cool looking at times if you tie it up right—headscarves and turbans are things I've always loved."
On her character in The Place Beyond the Pines: "I just had to do this role and portray this woman—she's such a raw character and incredibly fragile. Oh! And a fun story: When I had my wardrobe fitting for the film, the stylist was pulling jean shorts because it takes place in the early 1990s. I was like, 'I think I have a pair of jean shorts from the early '90s from high school'—and indeed, I had kept my jean shorts. So, the very ill fitting shorts I wear in the film are actually the same shorts I had 20 years ago. Of course, [the director] loved it. He loves all the parallels that you can draw between you and your character."
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