Eva Mendes for New York and Company

I'm here at the Lucky FABB conference in NYC this week.  One of my favorite speakers was actress Eva Mendes.  She was this month's Lucky Magazine cover girl and was also there to represent her collaboration with affordable clothing brand New York and Company.

I don't usually review large mass market brands.  I also rarely find "celebrity" fashion ventures worthy of writing about.  However, hearing Eva Mendes speak about her goals with this project made me make an exception.  Here's why:

She looked gorgeous in her dress from the collection.  She spoke about her family roots from the low end of middle income family.  She talked about how her mission was to create a collection that looked beautiful that women from that economic level would be proud of.  Ms. Mendes humbly would not refer to herself as a designer as she felt she did not earn it (refreshing!).  She DID discuss bringing in a whole bag of vintage samples as design inspiration and proudly flaunted a vintage belt that cost barely more than a cup of coffee.

In a world of fierce red carpet competition, she stressed how women should support each other and how instead of "Who Wore It Best" it should be how everyone looked great.  She attributed her healthy attitude of body image to her Latin family which always encouraged people to eat, and entering the Hollywood world later (her 20s) rather than growing up with the pressures of being thin.

After checking out the collection online, I did find the sihouettes pretty and flattering to a range of body types.  The styles were timeless but modern.  The price point was indeed accessible, dresses topped out under $80, etc.  The most expensive jewelry piece was $35.

Eva charmingly borrowed an audience member's scarf to do a quick demo of how to do a head wrap which earned her a wall of instagram photos in response.