Dakota Fanning’s days as jailbait are drawing to a close and for once she’s trading her tarted up Lolita look for grown-up sophistication in a new photo shoot for the UK edition of Elle magazine. Dakota, 17, and 13-year-old sister Elle Fanning have been pushing the envelope on the sexualization of young teen girls in fashion photo shoots.
The Fannings last appeared in fashion bible W magazine in a photo spread that would have made Miley Cyrus blush. The fashion industry is leading the charge in the sexualization of young teens. A Marc Jacobs perfume ad featuring Dakota was recently banned in Britain for being too sexually provocative.
Dakota Fanning: Come Hither
In her latest turn, Dakota sports heavy red lipstick and come hither looks but exudes a more mature sexuality. She’s decked out in Louis Vuitton and Prada. Shot by David Slijper, Dakota’s cover photo is a tight close up of her beautiful face with a look at still seems to channel Lolita.
Sister Elle, meanwhile, appears on the January issue of Teen Vogue looking totally age appropriate for once with light make up and a more teen-like bright red, sleeveless sweater blouse.
In the accompanying interview, Dakota only has nice things to say about her little sis; no sibling jealously here.
“She is incredibly free-spirited and totally wears her heart on her sleeve, you know exactly what she is thinking by taking one look at her. She’s just incredibly… I don’t know, I wish I could be more like her sometimes,” she says. “We see ourselves as to completely different entities. I mean, we don’t even look alike.”
Dakota Fanning: No Age Limit on Interest
Although there has been a lot of fuss about her age, Dakota thinks it’s only a number. “I feel like I’ve lived a long time, but then I realize, ‘Oh, I’m actually only 17.’
“I don’t think there should be an age limit on an interest, do you know what I mean?” says the actress, who turns 18 in February.
Dakota is also refreshingly unassuming given her career. ?”I just want to be an actress, she says. I don’t really do anything attention-grabbing. Famous just sounds so pretentious. Who am I to call myself that word?”Now that’s wisdom beyond her years.