Milan, 14 July. (LaPresse) – A new case of exploitation in the international fashion industry. The Court of Milan has ordered a year of judicial administration for Loro Piana spa, a luxury brand based in Vercelli and controlled by the French fashion multinational LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, for establishing “stable working relationships” 'with individuals involved in the exploitation of workers' and “negligently” facilitated Chinese gangmastering along the cashmere production chain in Italy. In the investigation by Milan public prosecutor Paolo Storari, the Carabinieri of the Comando Tutela Lavoro – Milan Group reconstructed a chain of “unauthorised subcontracting” involving at least four levels to “employ irregular and illegal workers” in violation of health and safety regulations and in breach of national collective agreements on wages and salaries, working hours, breaks and holidays. Loro Piana (2,294 employees, almost €1.7 billion in revenue in 2024 and €389 million in profits) is said to be responsible only for the “prototyping” of clothing, including the prestigious cashmere jackets of the brand led by Antoine Arnault, son of Bernard Arnault, the richest man in France and among the top 10 in the world in terms of wealth, while production would be outsourced to companies “without any production capacity” (employees or machinery to process the raw materials), which in turn subcontract the work to illegal Chinese factories in order to cut costs. During inspections carried out during the investigation, which began in May 2025 following a complaint by a worker for illegal hiring and assault, who was beaten and injured by his Chinese employer for asking for payment of arrears, the military personnel of the Labour Inspectorate Unit and the Operational Unit of the Milan Labour Protection Group identified at least 21 workers, 10 of whom were employed illegally and 7 of whom were irregular workers in Italy employed with wages below the hourly threshold, without training or health surveillance of the workplace. The workers were allegedly forced to live in illegal “dormitories” in “unhygienic conditions below minimum ethical standards”. Two Chinese entrepreneurs were reported and one of them arrested in flagrante delicto for exploitation, while two other Italian company owners are facing charges of violating health and safety regulations in the workplace. Fines totalling €181,482.79 and administrative penalties of €59,750 were imposed.
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