Family memories and clothing have always been closely linked for Eva Mendes, 45, who keeps that at the forefront every time she sits down to design new pieces for her New York & Company collections.
“Whatever special occasion holds a dear place in my heart, I usually remember what I was wearing or what my mother was wearing or my sisters,” Mendes tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue, on newsstands Friday. “When I was really little, my mom worked at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood. We would ride the bus to go to work, [and] I’d go to work with her. She would wear this red geisha gown that you had to wear at that time, and it was so beautiful. There’s so many memories tied to that.”
Mendes, 45, also remembers what she wore on a recent trip to the L.A. Opera House to view a performance ofHansel and Gretelwith her 4-year-old daughter Esmeralda, and why it’s so special to her.
“She did so well for just having turned 4. She was riveted,” Mendes says of her daughter’s experience, adding that she was wearing a navy and white polka-dot wrap dress from one of her New York & Company collections. “That’s a beautiful memory in that dress that I treasure.”
Eva Mendes in her New York & Company collection.New York and Company
Most recently, Mendes dropped herlatest collectionon March 14 which she says drew inspiration from the “effortless elegance of the ’70s” and features a range of matching sets, dresses, blouses, tops, skirts and pants.
New York and Company
Though Mendes says she would choose the same wrap dress that she wore to the opera — which comes in an emerald green color with white polka-dots in her upcoming April collection (pictured below) — for a date night with longtime loveRyan Gosling, 38, she’s typically more dressed down on a daily basis as much of her day revolves around spending time with their daughters,EsmeraldaandAmada, 2.
“We go through a few outfits a day just because of all the fun stuff [we do] — we made some homemade Play-Doh the other day,” she says. “I really let them explore whether it’s out in the garden or even in our own kitchen. I give them a lot of things so they can have sensory play. So they’re constantly getting dirty, which is how it should be. Lots of T-shirts.”
Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling.Dave Allocca/StarPix/REX/Shutterstock
For that reason, motherhood is also in mind when Mendes creates her designs.
“What New York & Company is so amazing about is they offer fabrics that are easily washable and that you don’t have to take to the dry cleaners and not only spend money on but time,” she says. “You just want to be able to clean something. The materials we use, the buttons don’t fall off if you dry clean them, the hems don’t change. Everything shrinks at the same rate so you don’t get an uneven lining. It’s a really great, very specific quality that we have.”
Perry Hagopian
In the meantime, her longtime partnership with New York & Company keeps her schedule both busyandflexible.
“I’m so grateful because it’s an amazing company that not only understands what it is to be a mother, but they support that,” she says. “And not all companies do. So to have a company, a partner, to support you in that is invaluable.”
For more on Eva Mendes' life, pick up this week’s issue ofPEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.
source: people.com
