LK Bennett has teamed up with actress and current face of the brand, Rosamund Pike, on a capsule handbag collection.

Due to hit stores on 17 July, there are three styles to choose from; the Rosie, Rosamund and Rosa (bet you can't guess what inspired the names). They're all beautiful classic, polished shapes in leather, inspired by British films and Julie Christie. And, rather than just put her face to the collection, Pike has been hands on when it came to designing the pieces, sketching shapes and adding safety pin and shoe heel details. We caught up with her to talk about the partnership...

Why do you think women are so attached to their handbags?
For me there are two things about a great bag. One is that if you have everything you need with you, then you have freedom because you can go anywhere. And the other thing is that it masks all the chaos, you can have a smooth elegant exterior to all the ramshackle chaos that most women carry round with them in their everyday lives. So it makes you feel elegant on the outside even if you don’t feel so on the inside.

Tell us about the bags that you’ve designed...?
I travel a lot so I appreciate having bags of differing sizes and I asked if we could have a really oversized one that was perfect for taking as hand luggage on an aeroplane and would work as a weekend bag. I’ve become quite an efficient packer and I can be quite minimal when I chose to be, so I love that size. It’s going to come in a green and a navy, perfect for travel as it’s not going to get stained if it’s bashed about on a aeroplane.

The middle sized one is the Rosamund bag. And there’s a tiny bag, something that can be a perfect day bag but still looks cool in the evening. It’s a way of feeling polished but not like you’re trying too hard, it’s a way of going from day to evening in a more leisurely fashion.

Hopefully people will enjoy them as much as I intend to. We picked colours that made you feel like you wanted to eat them, this lovely tangerine colour.

What was your favourite part of the collaboration?
I loved every part of the process particularly the attention to detail that designing a bag involves. When it comes to looking at the hardware, for instance, on the bag there are so many decisions to make; what metal it’s going to be made in, how big are the teeth on the zip going to be? I realised the size of the teeth made an impact on the noise of the zip and I realised part of what’s really satisfying about unzipping a quality handbag is hearing the music of the zip. It’s got to have that nice rich tone to it. There’s all these things that I have instinctively cared about over the years but never had anyone explain to me why they mattered.

Which bag is your favourite?
The middle sized orange and large navy. I love the vibrant colour on the orange bag, and the navy is just a great weekender.

See Rosamund Pike's wardrobe highlights...