Rising star Eva Mendes picked for Dolce & Gabbana campaign

by Sam Matthews, Brand Republic 04-Mar-05, 09:00

LONDON - Eva Mendes, star of the latest Will Smith film 'Hitch', has been snapped up by Italian fashion label Dolce & Gabbana to front its latest ad campaign.

The voluptuous Cuban-American actress, who also appeared in 2003's 'The Fast and the Furious' sequel '2Fast 2Furious', will model the label's menswear collection.

Wearing one item of clothing at a time -- a shirt with bare legs or trousers with her arms folded over her breasts, Mendes is sure to get men's pulses racing in this latest camapign.

Mendes appearance marks the first time Dolce & Gabbana has chosen a Hollywood star to front their campaigns. The label usually favours waif-like unknowns or celebrity models such as Brazilian Gisele Bundchen, who is Leonardo Di Caprio's girlfriend.

It is not the first ad campaign for Mendes. In 2002, she appeared in an American Express credit card commercial which featured the Sheryl Crow song 'Soak Up the Sun'.

Mendes has been tipped as the next Hollywood big thing. She began her movie career in flimsy horror 'Children of the Corn 5: Fields of Terror' in 1998 before a number of bit parts led her to a role in action film 'Training Day'.

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