Just Cavalli spring-summer 2009 - Photo : PixelFormula

MILAN (Reuters Life!) - Italian designer Roberto Cavalli has canceled his catwalk show for his Just Cavalli brand just two days before it was due to run, following difficulties at its distributor, Italian manufacturer Ittierre.

The main Roberto Cavalli show is still on schedule for March 1. But the show for the younger, more informal Just Cavalli line, for whom Britain's Kate Moss has modeled, was due to run on Thursday, during the Feb 25-March 4 Autumn/Winter 2009/2010 shows.

"I made the decision to safeguard the image and clients of Just Cavalli," the designer was quoted in MF newspaper saying.

"The difficult situation of Ittierre doesn't give me the guarantee or security to be able to be, as always, in the avant-garde with my youthful line," he said, according to the newspaper. "I want to present again for the next summer collections in September."

The fashion house confirmed the cancellation.

The Italian government has appointed three special administrators for Ittierre, a unit of Italian fashion company IT Holding. Ittierre also distributes goods for VJC Versace.

IT Holding, which also owns fashion brand Gianfranco Ferre, had requested special administration for Ittierre earlier this month as the global financial turmoil hits Italy's luxury goods sector.

Ferre said in a statement its February 27 show was going ahead.

"It wouldn't be right for a single season of financial difficulties, accentuated by an unprecedented global economic crisis, to compromise the patrimony and legacy of the Ferre brand worldwide," Gianfranco Ferre CEO Michela Piva said.

(Reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian, editing by Paul Casciato)