Italy’s Pirelli group, best known for its high performance tyres, is to lend its famous name to a new range of leather fashion items and footwear.

The company says it has already licensed the Italian clothing group Allegri to produce its clothing, and an unnamed Spanish firm to manufacture its footwear. Both ranges will be manufactured in Italy. The company’s leather goods will be produced abroad by a third organisation whose identity was also not disclosed.

Pirelli says that as well as reinforcing core brand, the new lines should prove highly profitable in their own right.