Valentino to ban fur and discontinue Red Valentino line

Italian luxury group Valentino has announced it would cease using fur from 2022 and would focus on its signature brand, terminating the Red Valentino line from 2024.

The company follows many other brands in banning fur in recent years including Prada, Versace, Gucci, Michael Kors, Burberry and Armani, due to growing customer sensitivity to animal rights and environmental issues.

The Milan-based Valentino Polar fur company, which has been fully owned by Valentino since 2018, will cease production at the end of 2021. The last Valentino collection to include fur will be the Autumn/Winter 2021-22 season, the company confirmed.

First launched in 2003, the last clothing and accessories collection from Red Valentino will be for Autumn/Winter 2023-24.

The announcement comes as the UK government is considering making Britain the first country in the world to ban the sale of fur now that the UK has left the single market, and just two months after British design house Alexander McQueen and Spanish designer Balenciaga declared a fur-free policy.

The company is also expected to work closely with trade union representatives in various countries, aiming for the changes to have a minimum impact on its employees.

PETA US Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman, said: "After more than a decade of campaigning including protests and runway disruptions by PETA and our international affiliates, Valentino has announced that it will ban fur. Cheers went up at PETA HQ today at the news that even the fashion house that sewed mink fur on sneakers is changing with the times. At this rate, not a single designer will still be selling fur next year and no wonder, since no kind shopper will buy it."

Martina Pluda, Director of Humane Society International, added: “Valentino dropping fur is a major nail in the coffin for the cruel fur trade. Like so many other designers, Valentino knows that using fur makes brands look outdated and out of touch, and fur industry certification schemes are little more that the hollow PR spin of an industry that kills 100 million animals for fur a year. Compassion and sustainability are the new luxury in a world where dressing in the fur of factory farmed foxes or gassed mink is tasteless and cruel.”