Madonna ditches France for Italy

The pop star with Italian-American heritage has been announced as the new face of Dolce & Gabbana, prompting rumors that this could mean the end of her Louis Vuitton days.

Madonna, who fronted the French luxury brand's campaigns for two seasons, has been a close friend of Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana since the early 1990s and will star in their upcoming spring/summer fashion campaign.

D&G, who once designed stage costumes for one of the singer's concert tours, stated: "To have Madonna in our campaign is a dream come true."

The series of images to promote the collection, which is said to focus on corsets, has already been shot by star photographer Steven Klein and will be released early next year.

Dolce & Gabbana are currently on a lucky streak when it comes to high-profile faces for their brand: actress Scarlett Johansson is modelling for the brand, while the who's who of supermodels (Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer, Eva Herzigova) starred in their recent Anthology fragrance campaign.