By
Bloomberg
Published
July 17, 2024
Italy's competition authority has launched an investigation into some companies controlled by luxury fashion groups Giorgio Armani SpA and LVMH's Christian Dior over alleged unfair trading practices.
The antitrust regulator said the two brands may have used supplies from laboratories that employed workers who were paid “inadequately.” In addition, these workers sometimes had to work illegally long hours in inadequate health and safety conditions, which “contrasted with the levels of production excellence that the brands boasted,” the regulator said in a statement on Wednesday.
It is the latest move by Italian authorities to crack down on alleged illegal business conduct in the fashion industry.
In June, a Milan court placed a unit of French fashion house Dior under judicial control, alleging alleged labor violations in its supply chain. Dior, which produces luxury handbags and accessories in Italy, failed to “prevent or curb labor exploitation within its production cycle,” Italian police said at the time.
Similarly, in April a Milan judge placed Armani's production unit under the same control for alleged labour exploitation.
On Tuesday, financial police and antitrust officials raided the headquarters of Giorgio Armani SpA, GA Operations SpA and Christian Dior Italia, the statement said.
Armani and Dior could not immediately be reached for comment.
