While many of her fans may see Dunham as the very epitome of cool, the lady herself insists it's not something she considers herself to be.

“Cool is when you do whatever the f**k you want. I don't feel cool now [...] If I do feel cool, I see a picture of myself later and I'm like, 'That was a disaster.' What I do feel is a freedom from certain kinds of pressures. Now I don't give a s**t if you know that my jacket is from Ann Taylor.”

As an active social media user, Dunham is no stranger to online abuse and has previously spoken to Stylist about feeling targeted by some websites in particular. Now she says the more hurtful criticism has taught her “true pain”.

“I've been put to bed for weeks from reading things about myself on sites that used to be considered feminist gospel,” she told Harper's. “[But] I love the Internet because every piece of true pain I've experienced as an adult—with the exception of death in the family and breakups—has come from it.”

Read the full interview and see the shoot in November's issue of Harper's Bazaar.

Images: Instagram/harpersbazaarus, Rex Features

“I don't feel cool” Lena Dunham talks turning 30 and long-distance love