Selena Gomez has found herself at the centre of a vicious social media storm after a prominent Italian fashion designer blasted her looks and incurred the wrath of her millions of fans - including her good pal Miley Cyrus. It's only the latest in Gabbana's history of unnecessarily mean comments.

Selena Gomez at WE Day CaliforniaSelena Gomez at WE Day California

No-one wants to propagate the stereotype that people who work in the fashion industry - largely editors and designers - are mean-spirited and responsible for the vast majority of models suffering from low self-esteem, but Stefano Gabbana is doing a pretty good job of that himself.

The 55-year-old, who is one half of Italian fashion house duo Dolce & Gabbana and the 28th richest person in Italy, took aim at 25-year-old Selena Gomez after an Instagram account called The Catwalk Italia posted a collection of shots featuring the singer in five different, equally stunning red dresses.

He wrote, 'è proprio brutta', which translates to 'she's really ugly' in English. Furthermore, when another user wrote that she 'looks like a Pomeranian dog', Gabbana responded: 'Hahahahahaha is true hahahaha.'

Naturally, fans of Selena were not impressed with this in the slightest, many branding it 'online bullying'. Selena is yet to comment on the situation, but Miley Cyrus was quick to rush to her defence with a profanity-laden comment on a fan page.

'Well what that d**k head said (if it's true) is f**king false and total bull s**t. She's fine as f**k', she wrote.

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It's not the first time the designer has taken to vitriolic take-downs via social media; in the past he's targeted Lady Gaga and Kate Moss. Meanwhile, both he and Domenico Dolce openly criticised gay adoptions and IVF back in 2015, inciting Elton John to urge people to boycott the brand. They later issued an apology for their remarks.