Westcountry

Teenage fashion darling Lily Cole has signed a lucrative deal to become the new face of British retailer Marks and Spencer (M&S).

The Torquay-born red head will be the exclusive face of the new high-end Limited Collection that is expected to go on sale from January.

According to the Daily Telegraph, she will model ankle-length maxi suits, fitted macs and tailored casualwear.

Cole, 19, will also feature in an advertising campaign next year along with the other leading ladies of M&S. These include supermodels Twiggy and Erin O'Connor and former pop singer Myleene Klass.

"We are thrilled that Lily has joined us as the face of Limited Collection," said M&S marketing director Steve Sharp.

Steve Sharp, M&S: "We are thrilled that Lily has joined us as the face of Limited Collection."

"Her striking beauty goes without saying and her commitment to environmental issues makes for a great partnership with M&S."

Her green credentials include being a patron of the Trees for Cities charity and she recently wrote the foreword for Tamsin Blanchard's ethical shopping book Green Is The New Black.

Cole, who made this year's Sunday Times Rich List with an estimated net worth of £6m, has previously worked with the likes of Louis Vuitton, John Galliano and Julien Macdonald.

She has featured on the front covers of leading fashion magazines such as Vogue (American, Italian, British, Japanese and Korean), Citizen K, V and Numero.

In November 2004, the British Fashion Awards named her 'Model of the Year'.

Additionally, Cole has appeared in advertising campaigns for top designers like Chanel, Christian Lacroix, Hermes, Longchamp, Cacharel, Top Shop and Anne Sui cosmetics, as well as being the face for Moschino's iconic perfume I Love Love.

Despite her successful modelling career, Cole has also shown a strong commitment to her education - achieving A grades at A-level in English, politics, drama, history and philosophy and ethics. She will study social and political sciences at Cambridge University in October 2008.

Cole, an ambassador for international children's charity Global Angels, is also scheduled to star alongside Australian actor Heath Ledger in The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. The movie is expected to be released in the UK in early 2009.