Anna Nicole Smith's daughter Dannielynn Birkhead made a style statement on Friday ahead of the Kentucky Derby.

    The 17-year-old joined her dad, Larry Birkhead, at the annual Barnstable-Brown Gala and looked incredible wearing a black Gianfranco Ferre dress previously worn by Janet Jackson.

    According to Julien’s Auctions, the dress is "knee-length in the front and floor-length in the back and features zippers all around".

    Proud dad Larry shared photos of the duo on their joint Instagram account and Dannielynn's resemblance to her late mother is evident.

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    The pair posed for two photos, one sitting beside each other in a chair and another standing in a corridor which gave a full-length view of Dannielynn's iconic dress.

    She teamed the garment with black biker boots and a silver choker, wearing her blonde hair down in voluminous curls with glamorous makeup.

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    Captioning the snaps, Larry penned: "On our way to Barnstable-Brown Gala for the kick-off of the @kentuckyderby weekend. Dannielynn is wearing her second @janetjackson outfit to the party that I got from Janet’s @juliens_auctions -charity auction."

    The event was a double celebration as Larry revealed that Dannielynn had recently graduated from high school.

    He added: "Looking forward to a fun Derby weekend with the newly graduated high school student!"

    The Kentucky Derby holds a special meaning to both Dannielynn and Larry and they attend the event every year after starting the tradition when Dannielynn was just three years old.

    Larry met Anna Nicole at the Barnstable-Brown Gala in 2003 when he was a photographer sent to cover the annual event, which benefits the Barnstable Brown Diabetes Center at the University of Kentucky.

    Larry previously revealed that he takes his daughter every year, to both honor the past as well as to create new memories with her.

    Talking to Fox News Digital about the annual affair, he explained: "It's kind of been a tradition that we would go every year. 

    "Since I did meet her mom there, it started off just kind of me taking her back and showing her around and kind of letting her know the stories that, you know, this is kind of where I met your mom and things."

    Larry added: "And then it came to kind of people look for my daughter there because I really don't let her do any public events. And so, in all honesty, the Kentucky Derby is kind of the growth chart for Dannielynn."

    Dannielynn's late mother Anna Nicole was an American socialite who found fame in the early 1990s when she married Howard J. Marshall who was 63 years older than her.

    Dannielynn was born in 2006 but tragically five months later, in February 2007, Anna Nicole was found unresponsive in a Florida hotel room and was pronounced dead in hospital. She was just 39.

    Initially, it was Howard who was listed on the birth certificate as Dannielynn's father. However, Larry claimed paternity and a DNA test later confirmed that he was indeed the little girl's dad.

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