Taylor Swift features trans model Laith Ashley as love interest in ‘Lavender Haze’ video

Taylor Swift just dropped the video for ‘Lavender Haze’, the first track off the truly excellent Midnights. As you’d expect from the title, there’s a lot of lavender and a lot of haze, with the dreamy video showing Taylor deeply in love with a new boyfriend.

Said boyfriend is played by model, actor and trans activist Laith Ashley, with the two making for a beautiful couple. Taylor launched the video via a tweet in which she specifically praised Ashley, saying she “adored” working with him:

Ashley has returned the compliment, describing it as “an experience I will never forget”:

Since rising to fame via Instagram, Ashley’s modelling career has gone stratospheric. He’s featured in campaigns for Calvin Klein, British GQ, Vogue France, Elle UK and many others, becoming the first transgender man to front a campaign for Diesel.

Fan responses to the video are universally positive. Swifties are predictably over the moon and have already begun producing some impressive fan art:

While Ashley’s fans are happy that he’s reached a new height in his career:

But some are calling attention to one shot that… well, we’ll let you work out what this is depicting for yourselves. Just a fold in the sheet or something more…?

Swift went on to underline that she wrote this video and feels like it above all overs helped her define the Midnights aesthetic, describing it as a “sultry sleepless ‘70s fever dream”.

So, the song is an instant classic and the video is a straight-up banger. But at this point we expect nothing less from Taylor.