A new designer for Valentino's men's division will be announced before the end of the year, in time to prepare the next fashion line to be presented in Milan in January, the maison's CEO Stefano Sassi said on Wednesday.
"We have already made the choices which we considered the most important, whereas the menswear line is still marginal and requires someone who can help us develop it further," he added.
The choice, Sassi explained, "will be made using the same criterion we used for the other ones and being Italian will not be a secondary factor".
Last month it was announced that Italian designer Alessandra Facchinetti would take over from international style icon Valentino as creator of womenswear at the fashion house he created.
Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli were appointed as co-directors of the accessories division at the same time.
Facchinetti, 35, formerly head of womenswear at Gucci, will begin overseeing the design of Valentino women's collections when the maison's founder retires in January.
Her appointment was made public the day after Valentino officially announced that he was retiring after a 45-year career.
Valentino, whose full name is Valentino Garavani, presented his last pret-a-porter collection earlier this month in Paris, while his final haute couture collection will hit the Paris catwalk in January.
The Valentino Fashion Group, which was bought in June by private equity fund Permira, said it wanted someone young and commercially minded to lead Valentino into new markets after the founder's departure.
