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Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.

What Happened to Italy’s Luxury Sweatshops Investigation?

It’s been almost a year since Italian prosecutors linked Armani and then Dior to sweatshops on the outskirts of Milan as part of an investigation that was expected to put up to a dozen more fashion brands under the microscope. In response, officials and industry leaders have rushed to tighten controls over the luxury supply chain.
A spotlight shines on a pile of black bags.
Italian investigators have shone a spotlight on exploitation embedded in the luxury industry's supply chain. (BoF Team)

Is luxury off the hook?

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Further Reading

Inside Luxury’s Italian Sweatshops Problem

An Italian probe linking luxury labels including Dior and Armani to labour exploitation — with the supply chains of up to a dozen more brands under the microscope — has exposed a seedy practice deeply embedded in the luxury system, creating an unpredictable PR crisis at a precarious time for the sector, a BoF investigation has found.

Is Luxury Finally Set for a Sustainability Reckoning?

Amid growing disillusionment with luxury brands, a series of Italian investigations linking major players like Dior and Armani to sweatshop labour is putting new pressure on the sector's most powerful asset: brand image.

About the author
Sarah Kent
Sarah Kent

Sarah Kent is Chief Sustainability Correspondent at The Business of Fashion. She is based in London and drives BoF's coverage of critical environmental and labour issues.

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