'I want to be a girl forever!' Elle Fanning, 17, sparkles as grunge princess for Vogue Australia as she reflects on leaving her childhood behind

By SOPHIE GOULOPOULOS FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

PUBLISHED: 22:42, 15 February 2016 | UPDATED: 22:42, 15 February 2016

She starred as the princess Aurora in Disney's 2014 film Maleficent.

And as she graces the cover and pages of Vogue Australia's March issue, Elle Fanning has revisited a look that really seems to suit her.

Dressed in feminine lace juxtaposed with clunky wooden-heeled boots, the 17-year-old sparkles as a grunge princess as a subtle nod to the decade in which she was born.

Gritty pretty: She lounges back onto an antique sofa in a black Céline dress and baby pink satin gloves

The younger sister of fellow actress Dakota, the blonde beauty responds to the notion that as her 18th birthday approaches, she will put her child years behind her.

'Everyone's saying I'm adult now... [but] I'm not grown up, I want to be a girl forever!' she says. On the cover, Elle looks angelic in a voluminous Chanel gown with layered ruffles and tiny diamantés.

'I want to be a girl forever!' Elle Fanning, 17, sparkles as grunge princess for Vogue Australia's March issue as she reflects upon leaving her childhood behind

Her neck is adorned with Chanel pearls and she poses with her right hand tucked under her chin as black lace gloves cling to her hands and forearm.

Looking over her shoulder in one photo, the striking teenager dons Balenciaga lace and black lace gloves, with the look given a raw edge with the addition of a Saint Laurent studded choker.

In another shot, she lounges back onto an antique sofa in a black Céline dress and baby pink satin gloves, prettiness that is once more offset by a dark smoky eye and the same choker.

She's excited about her impending 18th birthday, April 9, and looks forward to spending it with her closest friends in Los Angeles and then with her sister in New York.

'I look up to her so much': Elle is exceptionally close with her sister, fellow actress Dakota (left)

'We're so close, I look up to her so much,' she says.

She's exhibited a range that would challenge that of actresses twice her age.

This year, she stars as a teenage girl transitioning to a boy in About Ray, as a punk-rocker in 20th Century Woman and a model 'who gets devoured by the fashion industry' in the horror flick The Neon Demon.

With maturity beyond her years and despite her teen contemporaries, she chooses not to have a public Instagram account and cites a Hollywood legend as inspiration for her mysteriousness.

'Can you imagine Marilyn [Monroe] on Instagram? Would she still be this figure if we knew all this information about her? Who knows.'