The Italian Competition Authority has launched investigations into subsidiaries of luxury fashion companies Armani and Dior over the alleged exploitation of workers in their supply chains, it announced on Wednesday.
According to the authority, the companies have, in some cases, sold products from workshops where workers were underpaid, subjected to long working hours, and employed in violation of safety regulations.
On Tuesday, the companies’ business premises in Italy were searched, the authority said in a press release published on Wednesday.
“In both cases, the companies may have issued untrue statements about their ethics and social responsibility, in particular with regard to working conditions and compliance with the law by their suppliers,” the statement said.
The investigation will now examine whether the companies have resorted to illegal labour practices in the manufacture and sale of their high-priced goods, it said.
The working conditions in the contracted companies stand in stark contrast to the high production standards praised by Armani and Dior in their advertising. According to the authority, this practice violates Italian consumer protection law.
According to media reports, an investigation by the Milan public prosecutor’s office had previously found that workshops in Italy that manufacture products for Armani and Dior exploit labour to produce high-quality products at a fraction of the retail price.
Along with an Armani subsidiary, a branch of the French luxury goods group LVMH was placed under judicial supervision.
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