Elle Fanning for Marc By Marc Jacobs
The 13-year-old actress stars in an ad totally free from any Lolita references.
Dakota Fanning might only be 17, but she's already got some tough competition in the form of newer blood. Her own blood, nonetheless - Elle Fanning is following in her older sister's footsteps by becoming the latest celebrity to star in a campaign for Marc by Marc Jacobs. Elle is only 13 years old.
This might sound like too much too young to many people, but in the fashion world it's far from uncommon. Dakota Fanning was only twelve when she was named the face of Marc Jacobs' Spring 2007 campaign, and 14-year-old True Grit star Hailee Steinfeld was recently shot as the face of Miu Miu's Fall offering. Elle Fanning already has a strong relationship with high fashion herself, after beating out Tavi Gevinson and Natalie Portman to star in Rodarte's acclaimed short film The Curve of Forgotten Things earlier this year.
The moody Marc by Marc ad shows the younger Fanning sister clad in a long printed dress with matching patent boots and a pair of beige socks. Marc's signature eccentricity comes across in a wisp of hair blowing across Fanning's face rather than in anything too brazen, though it's true the designer doesn't always have the same innocent approach. His recent Oh, Lola! perfume ads (starring the 17-year-old Fanning sister) raised controversy for a suggestively placed perfume bottle. And, of course, for the fact that it was done in homage to Vladimir Nabokov's 1955 novel about the relationship between a sexual predator and a 12-year-old girl.
Words: Hannah Ongley
