With a debut role in Lars von Trier’s experimental film Nymphomaniac with Shia LaBeouf, to being chosen as the new face of Miu Miu’s AW14 campaign, the future is shining bright for Stacy Martin.
With her whip-like frame, long chocolate-brown locks and silky porcelain skin, it’s not hard to see why this 23-year-old is finding fame at her feet already. And her Franco-English demeanour – an insouciant cool mixed with an impeccable sense of style – has not has not failed to go unnoticed either. From sitting front row at Chanel, Rag & Bone and Miu Miu, the fashion world has found its new rising star. But Stacy openly admits this hasn’t always come with ease. ‘To be honest I’m not sure I had a sense of style when I was a kid. My relationship to fashion was, let’s say, quite ‘non-existent’. I would mainly wear baggy jeans and T-shirts,’ she remembers. ‘Over the last few years I’ve found my own way of having a relationship with fashion that’s true to me and matches what I do day-to-day. My favourite experiences and items are those that allow me to still get along with my day without having to think about what I’m wearing.’
Born in France, Stacy moved to Tokyo with her parents (her father is a hairstylist) at the age of seven before returning to her home country during her teenage years. At eighteen she ventured to London to study media and cultural studies at London College of Communication. It was during this tenure she signed with Premier Model Management. Stacy openly admits she undertook modelling to pay the bills and to become financially independent, rather than through a burning desire to strut the runway. Subsequently, she has appeared in several fashion spreads and publications.
More recently, Stacy has become the face of Miu Miu’s autumn/winter 15 campaign. Shot with famed photographer Steven Meisel in New York City, she recalls an intimate setting of a tailor-made alternative universe. ‘It was a great experience, the way Steven Meisel shoots is unlike any other photographers I’ve worked with before. He creates a very intimate atmosphere and has such a sensibility in the way that he works. We shot the autumn/winter campaign in New York, but once we were in the studio it was almost like we were in a different world, almost like being in a Jean-Luc Godard film in the Sixties,’ says Stacy. ‘Steven shoots so quickly because he knows exactly what he wants,’ Stacy continued. ‘Which made the shoot so pleasant and easy for me.’ When pressed for any interesting experiences on set, ‘Anything interesting? Well, apart from a few surprise visits, I would say that the tarot card reader was pretty cool,’ Stacy muses. With a dark and sombre veil falling over the final photographs, Stacy’s beauty shines through, in focus. Presenting a new type of Miu Miu girl: she’s utilitarian. The autumn/winter collection allows normality to reign and she has a few items on her wish list for the season ahead. ‘I like the pure fun of Miu Miu and how feminine the items are. Yet they still have a boyish and cool touch to them. I love the chunky knits, leather skirts and the sheep coat from this collection,’ she says.
It’s not just the fashion experts who have noticed her chameleon-like qualities but the film industry wants her too. After her debut film role in Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac, starring Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stacy’s film career is off to a flying start. With an A-list cast in tow, Stacy plays the role of Gainsbourg’s younger self. The similarities between the two are uncanny, from a likeness in appearance and fashion taste, to Stacy’s resemblance to Seventies fashion icon, Jane Birkin, Gainsbourg’s famous mother. With several nude scenes with Shia LeBeouf and tackling a role of many dimensions, it appears that Stacy is a natural. By modelling whilst studying at university, fortunately she earned enough to be able to pay for acting lessons at the Actors’ Temple where she still studies. Unlike many other acting students before her, she hasn’t had to slog it out by receiving knock back after knock back after attending auditions. She’s one of the lucky ones. Over the past few months, Stacy has been working on a new project in Italy. ‘I’ve recently been shooting in Rome with Italian film director Matteo Garrone on his new film The Tale of Tales. The film is based on a collection of fairy tales by 17th century author Giambattista Basile,’ she says. The year ahead for her is set to look like a busy one too. ‘I’m also due to shoot with British film director Ben Wheatley for his new film High-Rise. Later this year, I have Nicolas Saada’s new film Taj Mahal. So there’s lots going on and I feel extremely privileged to be working with such talented people,’ she says, humbly.
With her uncanny resemblance to Jane Birkin, this ‘Girl with the Fringe’ (who is more than a little mysterious), is only getting started. It’s not luck, but her multiple talents and cross-culture allure that are shining through. Now that you know who she is, you won’t forget her name.
