A small Ohio town filmed on Super 8, an enchanted moor watched over by a fairy with immense wings, the too-white neon of Los Angeles, the Greenwich Village of the early sixties. Revealed as a child, Elle Fanning has become the actress of fairy tale and visual fascination: with her, the light is never entirely innocent. Let's be clear from the start: neither Serge Lutens nor Jo Malone London has her as an ambassador — it is her cinematic world that has freely inspired this selection by Olara perfumery, led by La Fille de Berlin, Serge Lutens' rose with thorns.
1“Super 8”: Alice, the revelation
In 2011, J.J. Abrams delivered with “Super 8”, produced by Steven Spielberg, a love letter to amateur filmmaking: in a small Ohio town in the summer of 1979, a gang of teenagers is shooting a zombie movie on Super 8 film when a train derails before their eyes — and sets something free. Elle Fanning, barely thirteen at the time of filming, plays Alice Dainard, the gang's young actress: her audition scene, performed at night on a station platform, leaves the little crew — and the audience — speechless. That tender, fruity, still-adolescent grace has an olfactory equivalent: English Pear & Freesia by Jo Malone London, its freshly picked pear and white freesia — the sweetness of a first great role.
2“Maleficent”: Aurora and the enchanted forest
In 2014, Disney retold Sleeping Beauty from the fairy's point of view: in “Maleficent”, opposite a golden-eyed Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning plays Princess Aurora, raised on the edge of an enchanted moor where flowers glow at night. She returned to the role in the 2019 sequel, in which the princess grows into a queen. For that fairy-tale forest, Jo Malone London has the exact scent: Wild Bluebell, the English bluebell — the blue flower that carpets the woodland floor in spring — dewy, delicate and green, to be worn like a discreet crown.
3“The Neon Demon”: Jesse, beauty that burns
A radical change of light in 2016: in Nicolas Winding Refn's “The Neon Demon”, presented in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, Elle Fanning is Jesse, sixteen, newly arrived in Los Angeles to become a model — and whose beauty drives to distraction an industry ready to devour her. Neon, mirrors, gold and stylised blood: the fairy tale turns cruel. This is where La Fille de Berlin from the Serge Lutens collection imposes itself: a red rose mounted on pepper and pimento, splendid and armed — the flower that fascinates and stings. We detail it below.
4“A Complete Unknown”: Sylvie and the folk Village
In 2024, James Mangold recreated the Greenwich Village of the early 1960s in “A Complete Unknown”: Elle Fanning plays Sylvie Russo, the New York sweetheart of the young Bob Dylan embodied by Timothée Chalamet — a character inspired by Suze Rotolo, the silhouette on the singer's arm on one of folk music's most famous album covers. Smoky cafés, duffle coats, perpetual autumn: that woody warmth calls for English Oak & Hazelnut by Jo Malone London, still-green hazelnut and English oak, a forest walk for two — and, for the melancholy of farewells on a platform, L'Orpheline by Serge Lutens, chalky incense and musks, of a rare, ethereal beauty.
5La Fille de Berlin: the rose according to Christopher Sheldrake
If one fragrance had to sum up this world — the sweetness of the fairy tale, the poise of fascination — it would be La Fille de Berlin (2013), signed by Christopher Sheldrake, the house's historic perfumer, Serge Lutens' accomplice since the revolutionary Féminité du bois of 1992. Its composition holds in a single gesture: a sumptuous Damask rose, charged with black pepper and pimento, softening slowly onto musks and a touch of honey. The flower and the thorns at once — and a name that winks at the Berlin of cabaret's golden age, often read as a tribute to Marlene Dietrich, the child of Berlin who became a Hollywood icon: fascination made woman, already.
Did you know?
The bluebell — the flower of Wild Bluebell — is one of the United Kingdom's best-loved wildflowers: every spring it covers English woodland floors with spectacular blue-violet carpets, so precious that British law makes it illegal to dig up the bulbs in the wild. A fairy-tale flower in the literal sense: those woods turning blue in April have fed English legends for centuries.
6From enchanted woods to the stage: the Olara selection
Around these anchors, the selection unfolds like a tale. Peony & Blush Suede, Jo Malone London's floral best-seller signed by Christine Nagel — who has since become in-house perfumer at Hermès —, marries peony with red apple and the felted softness of suede: Aurora's ball gown, 2013 edition; it also comes as a body wash to extend the ritual. The new Sea Salt & Bergamot, Celtic Sea spray and luminous bergamot, brings in the open air — the escape beyond the castle walls. And to give a whole kingdom in miniature, the Cologne Collection gift set gathers five of the house's emblematic colognes in discovery size. You'll find it all among our women's fragrances — and if roses with character call to you, our article on Florence Pugh explores other heroines between Serge Lutens and Frédéric Malle.
Your questions, answered
Is Elle Fanning the face of a fragrance?
Neither Serge Lutens nor Jo Malone London has her as an ambassador: this selection is an editorial inspiration by Olara perfumery, freely built around her film roles. As a side note, the actress has been an international spokesperson for L'Oréal Paris since 2017 — she made her debut for the brand on the steps of the Cannes Film Festival.
Which films does Elle Fanning star in?
She plays Alice in J.J. Abrams' “Super 8”, Princess Aurora in “Maleficent” and its sequel opposite Angelina Jolie, Jesse in Nicolas Winding Refn's “The Neon Demon”, presented in competition at Cannes, and Sylvie Russo in James Mangold's “A Complete Unknown”, opposite Timothée Chalamet's Bob Dylan.
What does Serge Lutens' La Fille de Berlin smell like?
A generous Damask rose, spiked with black pepper and pimento, softening onto musks and a touch of honey. Created in 2013 by Christopher Sheldrake, it is a rose with character — in full bloom and thorny at once — and one of the most beautiful gateways into Serge Lutens' Collection noire.
What does Jo Malone London's Peony & Blush Suede smell like?
A peony at its peak, bitten with red apple and set on the felted softness of suede. Composed by Christine Nagel, it is one of the London house's best-sellers: a tender, dressed-up floral, easy to wear, that layers happily with other colognes.
What is the difference between Cologne and Cologne Intense at Jo Malone London?
The Colognes — like Wild Bluebell, English Pear & Freesia or Sea Salt & Bergamot — are light, luminous waters designed to be worn alone or layered; the Cologne Intense line, more concentrated, explores deeper, more opulent materials. They all combine with one another: that is the house's cherished principle of Fragrance Combining.
