Eva Mendes is back and better than ever, with her first children’s book, a new eyewear collection, and Stella McCartney campaign.
Over the last decade, Eva Mendes has been starring in the biggest role of her life: mother to Esmeralda Amada, 10, and Amada Lee, 8. While that role has kept her out of the limelight for the most part, the actor is back now, with two new partnerships that speak to her ethics and style.
Last month, Mendes starred in Stella McCartney’s Winter 2024 campaign with a mission grounded in sustainability and animal welfare. The campaign, titled It’s About Fcking Time, highlights McCartney’s cruelty-free innovations, including vegan leather, faux fur, and faux feathers, underscoring the brand’s commitment to responsible luxury. For Mendes, this project offered an unexpected but transformative experience. “Working with [Stella] was the job I never knew I needed,” she shared with her 6.5 million Instagram followers, adding, “Being involved with such an environmentally conscious brand that is cruelty-free in all ways has been a game changer for me on a cellular level.”
The campaign imagery is a striking testament to McCartney’s dedication to animal welfare. In one of the first photos, Mendes poses in a voluminous black high-low gown, a piece that debuted on McCartney’s Fall 2024 runway. She pairs it with the Falabella Crossbody Bag, made from recycled materials, mimicking the form and spirit of a horse to call attention to animal cruelty. “Pulling from [Stella’s] personal archive, life and design DNA, we curated a wardrobe of iconic pieces free from leather, feathers, fur, and exotic skins — 90 percent of which are crafted from responsible materials,” the brand explained in the campaign notes.
Mendes also channeled the elegance of a flamingo, wearing a chainlink crop top under a blush-colored, floor-length coat — an opening look from McCartney’s Winter 2024 runway show. The photo draws attention to the devastating impact of the feather trade, with the brand pointing out that “3.4 billion birds are killed or harmed for feather down annually.”
Mendes’ third look in the campaign is a bold brown trench coat embossed with a vegan crocodile texture, made from Uppeal, a plant-based material derived from apple waste. This textured statement piece pays homage to the estimated “1.5 million crocodile skins” used each year in the fashion industry, McCartney’s Instagram post revealed. Mendes lets the structured trench take center stage, forgoing any accessories to keep the focus on the craftsmanship and message behind the design.
This campaign marked Mendes’ first major project in a decade, following her last film appearance in Lost River, directed by her husband, Barbie actor Ryan Gosling, in 2014. While she has largely stayed out of the public eye in recent years, Mendes has focused on motherhood, writing, and smaller projects. The McCartney campaign announcement was posted just hours after the release of Mendes’ first children’s book, Desi, Mami, and the Neverending Worries — a book helping kids understand anxiety.
Published last month by Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, the book explores the often-overlooked topic of anxiety within Latino culture. “Desi, Mami & the Never-Ending Worries is a love letter to my kids and yours,” Mendes said, reflecting on how her journey as a mother inspired the story. With stunning illustrations by Abbey Bryant, the book follows the bedtime routine of a mother and daughter navigating worries together, offering a comforting message for children and parents. Mendes hopes it encourages meaningful family conversations about managing anxiety.
Mendes’ book takes a bilingual approach, available in both English and Spanish. Drawing from her personal experiences, Mendes also opened up about her eldest daughter, Esmeralda, developing early tools to manage anxiety. “She came up to me and Ryan [Gosling] when she was five and said, ‘Mama, Dada, I named my brain,’” Mendes recalled, adding that this small but profound moment highlighted how children internalize emotions. Mendes emphasizes the importance of reassuring kids through phrases like, “Just because you think it doesn’t mean it’s true,” which she regularly shares with her daughters. “I would hope this new generation of parents invites their children to have more conversations about their feelings, because kids do have a lot of anxiety and a lot to say, and we need to value that.”
The multihyphenate is now also reimagining reading glasses in partnership with Look Optic. The collection marries thoughtful design and eco-conscious materials, offering stylish frames that are both personal and practical. Mendes, embracing the inevitability of needing readers, wanted to create options that reflected her taste and values while remaining accessible to others facing the same shift. “I’m at that stage and have been where I definitely need readers. I can’t lie to myself anymore, you know?” she said in a statement.
The collection name, Evita, carries sentimental value for Mendes, serving as a tribute to her mother. “I call them the Evita because that is a nickname of mine, but it’s really what they called my mom,” she shares. The oversized frames in the collection evoke memories of her mother’s glasses, which were often made from plastic or metal. Mendes sought to honor those cherished images while using sustainable materials, opting for recycled plastic to recreate the familiar silhouettes.
Andrew Leary, founder of Look Optic, described the collaboration as a perfect fit. “Authenticity is paramount to the success of any partnership. This is why we could not be more excited about our collaboration with Eva Mendes,” Leary said in an email to WWD. “Last year, before we had ever met, Eva posted that Look Optic made the perfect Mother’s Day gift. So, we immediately asked if she would like to design a frame with us. The result is what I believe is our best style yet — Evita. Which truly looks beautiful on her.”
Mendes originally considered designing even larger frames but balanced her vision with practical elements to cater to those accustomed to smaller, drugstore styles. “I want people to be comfortable, but also to help them push their style a bit,” she says. Among her favorite details is the Shiny Bone colorway, an off-white shade with a subtle sheen. “It’s definitely a choice,” Mendes said, encouraging people to embrace bolder eyewear.
The new Evita collection introduces oversized readers in bone, maroon, and tortoiseshell, alongside sunglasses in similar hues. With prices ranging from $68 to $98. “The more stylish readers I was drawn towards were too expensive because I wanted more than one pair,” the actor said. Mendes designed the collection for those who know the frustration of readers mysteriously disappearing just when they are needed most. “It’s incredibly convenient with kids,” the mother of two noted.
Mendes credits her children with influencing her shift toward sustainable choices. “It sounds so cliché, but when you have kids, for me anyway, everything changes — the way I view the future changes,” she reflects. “I’m literally leaving this to them. All my decisions have changed. Everything, how I support myself, how I deal with things, my fashion choices, and I see it as a beautiful thing.”
The Evita collection is available now through Look Optic.
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