Updated 2:41 p.m. ET on Feb. 17
LONDON — Cynthia Erivo took time out of her busy schedule this week to attend a Mulberry cocktail party, where she offered a preview of one of the brand’s new, limited-edition Bayswater bags marking the brand’s 55 years in business.
Erivo, who is starring in “Dracula,” a one-woman show on the West End, has been working with Mulberry since last September, and the party at The Dorchester on Sunday night was in her honor.
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“The kid in me was very excited when the opportunity came [to work with Mulberry], because when I first started looking at luxury bags, Mulberry was one of the first brands I looked at. I had an old agent who had a tan Bayswater, and I remember eyeing the bag and going, ‘What’s that?’ She was Mulberry,” Erivo said in an interview.
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Erivo said she couldn’t afford Mulberry at the time, but was eager to partner with the brand when the opportunity arose. “I love the bags. They are endlessly classic, go with everything and are just nice to carry. Mulberry has something for everyone. I’m very, very edgy and can always find pieces that work,” she said.
During Sunday’s event, she was carrying a dark brown suede Bayswater bag decorated with the brand’s name written in a jumble of colorful, mismatched letters. Erivo said the bag’s size allows her to carry a thermos, phone, a protein bar and extra pieces of jewelry if she’s in need of a quick wardrobe change.
Her bag was one of 55 unique Bayswater styles made to mark the anniversary. The bags come in a variety of colors and textures, and were sourced from surplus and sample leathers in Mulberry’s archives. Mulberry is a B Corp-certified company, and the project aligns with its Made to Last sustainability manifesto.
The bags come in vibrant gold, silver, pink, green, crocodile and suede, with trims made from glossy leather. They are priced at 1,855 pounds, and the first drop will be available on the Mulberry site starting Friday.
Erivo, a London native, is currently starring in “Dracula,” which is based on the 1897 novel by Bram Stoker, and adapted by Kip Williams. It’s an ambitious production and she plays all 23 characters.
“It’s just a new adventure that I haven’t really been on before. I’ve done shows, I’ve done concerts, but I’ve never done a play where I’ve had to play all the characters on my own,” she said, adding that she’s never even done a solo, one-woman show before.
“It is a mountain that I am currently climbing and has challenged me in a way that nothing else has challenged me before. And I think that’s the thing that drew me to it, the fact that it scared me s–tless. And I was like, ‘Well, if that’s what it’s doing, I know that I’ll have to learn from it.’ I think that’s the thing that drew me toward it, it forced me to learn a new thing about who I am creatively and what I want to do,” she said.