Cruz talks passionately about the brand and the design evolution she and her sister have been on. “I am also very grateful that I can do another collection with my sister, because we have done this on and off, with different brands, over the last 20 years. It is something that keeps happening here and there. So, we are very grateful because we continue to learn from these great brands.”

I ask Cruz if she has a piece of clothing she returns to for confidence. “Well, there is one piece that is so valuable. That I don’t wear it a lot out because I am afraid of losing it. It is probably the most valuable piece of clothing [I own] and it’s a mantón de Manila [an embroidered silk shawl] that my grandmother made for me by hand. It is red, full of flowers – really beautiful. I think someday I should wear it to some premier with the right dress because it has to me so much history.”

It was Cruz’s grandmother who showed her how to sew and knit, she says. “Now, I taught my daughter. And I think it’s a great thing to do and a great meditation. I would do so many hours of that with my grandmother and now I do that with my daughter.” Later she says: “We have to pass that kind of tradition to the newer generations – not to lose that kind of thing. I think it is so good for their developing brains to be working with their hands.”

As we get ready to leave, Cruz sweetly offers us some refreshments from a beautifully stacked cake stand on the table next to her. A thoughtful gesture from a Hollywood star. Never meet your heroes, they say, but this clearly isn’t always true, and I am suddenly thinking of taking up knitting.

Penélope Cruz talks knitting, star signs and design