Louis Vuitton Twist MM

An archive clutch, turned

The Twist was the work of Nicolas Ghesquiere in his first year at Louis Vuitton. A handbag guide published in May 2020 says the bag was first shown at the house's Cruise 2015 runway show and was Ghesquiere's reinterpretation of a clutch from the archives, the Epi Trapeze. A 2018 article on the bag's summer colors gives the same lineage: first shown on the runway in 2015, a modern take on the Epi Trapeze clutch, and quickly a pillar of what Louis Vuitton calls its New Classics.

That Cruise 2015 show took place in Monaco. A fashion writer who attended described it on May 18, 2014, as a glass salon set up in the Palace Square of the Prince's Palace, the first fashion presentation held on those grounds, under the patronage of Princess Charlene. Louis Vuitton's current product copy says the Twist 'was introduced at the 2015 Cruise show,' and the house's own timeline places the Twist in 2015. One price-guide site instead says the bag first appeared in the Fall-Winter 2014 collection, though its own specification table gives Cruise 2015; the maker's date is used here.

Louis Vuitton now calls the Twist one of its icons. In a ten-year retrospective on Ghesquiere's work, the house names 'the iconic Petite Malle, GO-14, and LV Twist bags' alongside the Archlight sneaker as the milestones of his tenure.

The designer

Nicolas Ghesquiere was born on May 9, 1971, in Comines, in northern France. In 1997, at 25, he was the surprise choice to lead Balenciaga, then a house with little commercial success since the 1970s. Over the next 15 years he turned it into one of the most critically admired names in Paris, and his biggest commercial success there was a bag, the Lariat.

He left Balenciaga in November 2012, to general surprise, and on November 4, 2013, Louis Vuitton named him to replace Marc Jacobs as creative director of women's collections. His first women's show for the house was Fall-Winter 2014, the show that introduced the Petite Malle. The Cruise 2015 show in Monaco followed in May 2014, and with it the Twist.

Ghesquiere has since staged Louis Vuitton shows in landmarks including the Louvre, the first time the museum allowed a fashion house to show there, and on May 22, 2025, he presented the Cruise 2026 collection at the Palais des Papes in Avignon.

How the Twist works

The bag is defined by its lock. In the closed position the metal hardware forms a raised LV; to open it, you twist the piece so the L slides out of the V. One guide describes the finish as a three-dimensional 'bombe' effect and notes that the metal comes in gold, palladium or silver tones depending on the bag's color. Louis Vuitton's current copy calls the LV Twist lock 'a sculptural signature in gleaming golden metal.'

Louis Vuitton describes the MM as 'unexpectedly roomy' thanks to a 'wave' base, and says its sliding chain strap can be doubled for shoulder wear or lengthened to wear crossbody. Guides list a removable mirror in an interior pocket, a main compartment and an inside front pocket with a zip. The MM measures 23 by 17 by 9.5 centimeters on the maker's site; one guide gives its chain drop as 28 centimeters doubled and 49 centimeters long.

The MM is the middle size of the shoulder bag. Over the years Louis Vuitton has added a Twist Mini, PM, GM, a Twist Tote, chain wallets, belt bags and one-handle versions, and has dressed the bag in printed Epi, woven leather, sequins, lizard and crocodile. A May 2020 guide listed an Epi Twist MM at $3,850 and a crocodile Twist MM at $25,200. The classic Epi colors on Louis Vuitton's current MM page are Black (reference M21113), Quartz (M21116), White (M21111) and Galet Grey (M21112).

Epi itself predates the Twist by three decades. Louis Vuitton says it introduced Epi leather in 1985, drawing on a grained leather from the 1920s, including a 1926 tea case made for a maharajah, and that the leather is drum-dyed and embossed with the Epi pattern, making it robust and scratch-resistant.

The Fuchsia MM

This entry is the Twist MM in Fuchsia Epi. Fuchsia appears in a 2020 guide's list of the Twist's common and seasonal colors, alongside Noir, Blanc, Galet, Indigo, Kaki, Camel, Coquelicot, Cherry Berry, Rose Ballerine, Vert Acide, Grenade and Silver.

The example tracked here, listed in 2026, is described by its seller as made in France in 2015, the bag's first year in stores. It has silver-tone hardware, a red microfiber interior with one slip pocket and a mirror slot, and a turnlock closure. The seller lists it as 9.2 inches long, 7.5 inches high and 3.75 inches deep, in very good condition but with extensive wear to the twist-lock hardware, darkening and faint marks on the exterior and fading inside. Viewed from Europe on October 1, 2026, the asking price was shown as 2,115.81 euros; FLOAT did not see a US-dollar figure on the page that day.

Silver-tone hardware separates this early bag from the current Epi MM, which Louis Vuitton shows with a gold-color lock. Wear on the lock itself is common: the hardware is the most handled part of the bag, and one guide's own list of drawbacks is that the shiny LV letters scratch if you are not careful.

A new classic

Louis Vuitton calls the Twist 'a New Classic of the House' and says it is 'reinvented each season.' A May 2020 handbag guide agreed that the Twist had become 'a beloved new classic,' and that while new versions arrive every year, the plain Epi bags remain among the most popular. A resale company's guide calls it one of Louis Vuitton's most recognized leather bags.

Prices have climbed with that status. An Epi Twist MM cost $3,850 in the United States in May 2020, and a price list updated December 31, 2025, gives $4,700 for the same model, or 3,400 British pounds and 3,700 euros. In 2018, an airport retail article listed Epi Twist MMs at 2,400 pounds in the United Kingdom. On October 1, 2026, Louis Vuitton's European site showed the Black Epi Twist MM, M21113, marked as a discontinued product, while the Twist line itself continues.

The numbers

Dimensions

23 x 17 x 9.5 cm (about 9.1 x 6.7 x 3.7 inches), L x H x W

Material

Epi grained cowhide leather; this entry in Fuchsia

Hardware

LV Twist lock and sliding chain; gold-color on current Epi MMs, silver-tone on the 2015 Fuchsia example

Strap

Sliding chain and leather strap; drop about 28 cm doubled, 49 cm long

Interior

Main compartment, flat pocket with removable mirror, inside zipped pocket

Production quantity

Not published

Timeline

1. 1854

   Louis Vuitton opens his first store in Paris.

2. 1985

   Louis Vuitton introduces Epi leather, based on a grained leather from the 1920s.

3. 1997

   Nicolas Ghesquiere, 25, is named to lead Balenciaga.

4. Nov 2012

   Ghesquiere leaves Balenciaga.

5. Nov 4, 2013

   Louis Vuitton names Ghesquiere creative director of women's collections, replacing Marc Jacobs.

6. May 2014

   The Cruise 2015 collection is shown in the Palace Square of the Prince's Palace of Monaco; guides date the Twist's debut to this show.

7. 2015

   The Twist reaches stores; the Fuchsia Epi MM tracked on this page is listed as made in France this year.

8. 2018

   Louis Vuitton reissues the Twist in new summer Epi colors; UK listings show Epi Twist MMs at 2,400 pounds.

9. May 14, 2020

   A handbag guide lists the Epi Twist MM at $3,850 in the US and a crocodile Twist MM at $25,200.

10. 2023

    Marking Ghesquiere's tenth year, Louis Vuitton names the LV Twist among the icons of his decade.

11. Dec 31, 2025

    A price list updated this day gives $4,700 for the Epi Twist MM in the US.

12. Oct 1, 2026

    Louis Vuitton's European site shows the Black Epi Twist MM (M21113) as a discontinued product; a 2015 Fuchsia MM is listed for sale.

The world in 2014

• 2014

  The Fondation Louis Vuitton, designed by Frank Gehry, opens in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris.

• Jan 7, 2015

  Gunmen kill 12 people at the Paris offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.

• Apr 25, 2015

  A magnitude 7.8 earthquake strikes Nepal, killing nearly 9,000 people there.

• Jul 1, 2015

  Greece becomes the first advanced economy to miss a payment to the International Monetary Fund.

• Jul 20, 2015

  Cuba and the United States restore full diplomatic relations after 54 years.

• Dec 12, 2015

  The COP 21 climate summit in Paris agrees a global pact to cut carbon emissions.

Price record

This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.

By reference price, Louis Vuitton Twist MM is number 67 of 100 in the handbags entries of the FLOAT 100. 19 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (45 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• The Twist opens by rotating its metal LV so that the L slides out of the V.
• Its design comes from an archive Louis Vuitton clutch called the Epi Trapeze.
• The Cruise 2015 show where the Twist debuted was the first fashion presentation held on the Palace Square of the Prince's Palace of Monaco.
• Louis Vuitton's Epi leather traces back to a 1920s grained leather, including a 1926 tea case made for a maharajah.
• A Twist MM in crocodile listed at $25,200 in 2020, more than six times the Epi version.
• The MM's 'wave' base is what Louis Vuitton credits for its surprising capacity.