Lohan goes from bad girl to sophisticate

Lindsay Lohan is tipped to be the new face of Louis Vuitton. Picture / Reuters

Lindsay Lohan is better known for being one of Hollywood's bad girls, alongside her party-going friends like Paris Hilton, than for her achievements as a model, actress and singer.

Despite dramatic weight loss, she's denied claims of bulimia and drug abuse and shrugged off the three car accidents she was involved in last year.

And she's still only 19.

But now, Lohan, star of Mean Girls, The Parent Trap and Freaky Friday, is reported to be in line to become the new face of Louis Vuitton, the sophisticated French label and purveyor of handbags, luggage and accessories to the rich and famous.

If confirmed, the move would be the latest in a trend of celebrities and models being picked for endorsements and advertising campaigns despite their activities, rather than being sacked.

Kate Moss was recently chosen to front a Virgin Mobile campaign despite claims of extensive cocaine abuse while several advertising campaigns using Ms Hilton trade on her party girl image.

According to reports circulating in the United States, Marc Jacobs, the head designer of Louis Vuitton, part of the vast LVMH empire, is keen for Lohan to become the 'new face' of the label, which is likely to mean fronting the autumn winter advertising campaign.

It is not known if that means she will be replacing the current 'face', supermodel Gisele Bundchen.

Uma Thurman and Jennifer Lopez have also modelled for the label in the past.

Although Ms Lohan, who has been quoted as saying she is tired of her 'teen' image, might see a deal with the company as taking herself upmarket, US Weekly magazine quotes sources from inside the label as saying Mr Jacobs is keen to find a more youthful and 'cartoony' campaign for his designs.

A spokeswoman for Louis Vuitton in London said last night that they were unable to confirm whether or not Lohan would be engaged by the company.

She said: "The spring campaign is definitely being fronted by Gisele, but we have not yet announced who will be the face of the company for autumn/winter."

Lohan began her career as a child model and by the age of ten was already appearing as an actress in US soaps.

At 11 she starred in The Parent Trap, playing both roles in a pair of twins and then with Jamie Lee Curtis in Freaky Friday, winning critical acclaim for both films.

Her biggest success came in 2004 with the lead role in Mean Girls, a teen comedy; last year she also appeared in Herbie: Fully Loaded.

She has also released two albums and several singles.

But by this time, she was the subject of regular media attention for her night clubbing and party-going alongside Hilton and other, rumours of a breast enlargement - which she denied - bulimia due to dramatic weight loss and drug abuse.

In an interview with Vanity Fair magazine earlier this year, Lohan admitted 'a little drug use' but denied abusing cocaine and claimed her weight loss was due to working out.

She has also been briefly hospitalised twice - once last year for a kidney infection and one in January for asthma.

Mark Borkowski, a public relations expert, said the use of troubled celebrities by companies was a 'double edge sword." He added: "The problem is that, depending on their market and image, some companies like the idea of a cutting edge person representing them. But they don't like the idea of them cutting back. In this case, they may think that it is a containable risk."

- INDEPENDENT