DUFFY - DUFFY TO BE DOLCE & GABBANA'S MUSE

Welsh songstress DUFFY has been chosen to be Dolce & Gabbana's new muse.

The 23-year-old was signed up after the Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana saw her perform and were "blown away", a source revealed to the Mirror.

"They asked her to play in Milan and then signed her up as their muse," the source continued.

"Duffy is thrilled - not least because she now gets to wear gorgeous designer clobber for free!"

Previously, Dolce & Gabbana has produced the clothes for MADONNA's Girlie Show tour in 1993 and the pair's creations are often modelled by the Queen of pop on the red carpet.

Meanwhile, DUFFY, whose single MERCY and album ROCKFERRY have both topped the UK charts, has hit back at claims from ESTELLE that white singers should not record soul music.

Speaking to Thomas Crosbie Media she said: "If the talent and the desire is there, I don't really think it matters what colour you are."