Laura Harrier, the face of Louis Vuitton’s Twist bag for spring/summer 2021, is aware that talking about a handbag against the backdrop of a bleak global news cycle seems, to put it lightly, “a little crazy”. Speaking to British Vogue from a taxi in Los Angeles, the day after the shocking siege of the US Capitol, Harrier says she is taking “time to process the scary stuff happening in America now”.

The Twist bag campaign was a welcome distraction during a brief window between global lockdowns. Shot on a beautiful beach day in Malibu, Harrier says it was “good to be back at work and creating again”. This sense of whimsy is evident in the photographs of the actor jumping the waves and traversing the pier wearing the new Twist styles, featuring braided embellishments, textile straps and vibrant colourways.

“People are yearning for glamour and moments of celebration,” notes Harrier, for whom the Louis Vuitton shoot was like a shot in the arm. “It’s important to feel pretty and get dressed for people other than yourself.” The BlacKkKlansman star, who admires Ghesquière for making fashion fun while rooting the clothing in art and history references, uses the hot pink version of the Twist bag to energise her looks. The black model with the “cute clasp” – the iconic LV turn lock – is her default day bag.

“To say Nicolas Ghesquière creates clothes for me is so surreal,” she muses on her brand ambassadorship. “I’ve loved fashion for as long as I can remember. I used to dream of Balenciaga [where Ghesquière was previously at the helm] as a kid in the Chicago suburbs. It’s hard to get my head around wearing his Louis Vuitton. Nicolas’s strong, unique, powerful, intellectual and beautiful Louis Vuitton speaks to a woman who wants to wear more than pretty clothes.”