Italy's Valentino bans fur and focuses on its main brand

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian luxury group Valentino said on Tuesday it would stop using fur from next year and would focus on its main, eponymous brand, ditching its second, younger line from 2024.

The fashion company controlled by Qatari investment vehicle Mayhoola follows many other brands in banning fur in recent years including Prada, Versace, Gucci and Armani, due to growing customer sensitivity to animal rights and environmental issues.

The latest Valentino collection to include fur will be the Fall/Winter 2021-22 season, the company said.

Valentino Chief Executive Jacopo Venturini, who joined the Italian group last year when the luxury goods industry was hard hit by the pandemic, decided also to stop collections for its younger label REDValentino.

"The concentration on one, and only one brand, will better support a more organic growth of the Maison", the former Gucci executive said in a statement.

(Reporting by Claudia Cristoferi; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)