Thirteen luxury fashion brands now face scrutiny from Milan prosecutors investigating labour exploitation in Italian manufacturing. Authorities are taking a new approach—holding brand owners accountable for conditions throughout their supply chains.
Milan prosecutors have ordered 13 luxury fashion brands to submit documentation as part of an expanding investigation into labour exploitation across Italian supply chains. Public prosecutor Paolo Storari and officers from the Labour Inspectorate served document delivery orders to Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Versace, Gucci, Missoni, Ferragamo, Yves Saint Laurent, Givenchy, Pinko, Coccinelle, Adidas, Alexander McQueen Italia, and Off-White Operating.
The brands appear in case files concerning clandestine Chinese-run workshops as clients who outsource production to contractors and subcontractors operating in violation of labour and safety laws.
A softer approach—for now
Each order identifies problematic suppliers already found in the brand’s supply chain, the number of workers discovered in conditions of exploitation, and seized branded items found in workshops ready for shipment. Brands are being asked—on a voluntary basis—to provide their organisational prevention models and internal or commissioned audits: tools meant to prevent criminal activity.
This “light” formula gives companies time to eliminate exploitative practices from production lines and restructure their contractor networks, avoiding judicial administration measures for now. The approach follows controversy over Tod’s and Diego Della Valle, where Tod’s spa faces charges of acting with full knowledge that suppliers were certifying production lines improperly. Prosecutors may pursue stricter measures, including judicial administration, if brands fail to reform their contractor arrangements.
Pattern of judicial oversight
Since March 2024, Milan’s Tribunal has imposed judicial administration on Alviero Martini spa, Armani Operations, Manufacture Dior, Valentino Bags Lab, and Loro Piana (LVMH)—companies not under investigation but deemed to have negligently facilitated exploitation.
The strategy emerged from an investigation beginning with a Chinese supplier in Trezzano sul Naviglio, where a 26-year-old Bangladeshi worker died on his alleged first day in 2023 whilst employers attempted to register him with social security after the fatal accident.
Extreme cost compression
November 2025 inspections at three Tuscan workshops serving Tod’s production uncovered up to seven levels of subcontracting. Officers seized bags from Madbag, Zegna, Saint Laurent, Cuoieria Fiorentina, and Prada. Court documents reveal luxury goods produced for a few dozen euros and retailed for thousands—mark-ups reaching 10,000%.
Worker testimony shows one facility assembled belts for Zara, Diesel, Hugo Boss, Trussardi, Versace, Tommy Hilfiger, Gucci, Gianfranco Ferré, Dolce & Gabbana, Marlboro, Replay, and Levi’s, amongst others.
Since 2015, labour protection officers have reported increasing violations in Chinese-run workshop-dormitories breaching hygiene, safety, pay, and working time regulations—consistently finding major international brand merchandise inside. Prosecutor Storari describes the shift in focus as a “judicial policy” choice: making the entire luxury supply chain responsible, from clandestine factories to boutique windows.
