It’s this particular image that Mendes recalls during a pre-production meeting for the cover story. “I’m an actress,” she says while peering at a table in the VIOLET GREY studio, covered in similar photographs. “Photo shoots are best, and always more fun, when I transform into another persona.” And thus, the character of Dolores Carmen, dreamed up from the mind of Mendes, was brought to life for VIOLET GREY.

The location then would be integral to the story of Dolores Carmen, a woman devoted to her immaculate home, meticulously wrapped presents, and lush faux eye lashes. After much deliberation Mendes decided upon the Brody House, an iconic piece of Los Angeles architecture, built in 1949 by A. Quincy Jones, who was consistently drawn to the natural fusion of outdoor and indoor spaces within a singular structure—a concept that wholly suits a Christmas fête in warm weather. There would, of course, be a Christmas tree in the atrium.
 
To preserve the world of Dolores Carmen, photographer Guy Aroch was selected for his ability to capture the essence of a woman through a soft-focus, voyeuristic approach. Mendes, who became Dolores Carmen through the exceptional transformational effects of nail artist Karen Gutierrez, stylist Jamie Schneider, hair and makeup by artists Steeve Daviault and Beau Nelson respectively, was articulate about creating vignettes of Dolores as she obsessively prepared for a holiday so synonymous with a winter wonderland, yet could be made just as magical in Los Angeles.