![]()
Italian police raids on luxury fashion offices in Milan have drawn new attention to a supply-chain scandal that prosecutors say reaches from polished boutiques in the city center to hidden workshops on the outskirts, where Chinese workers have allegedly been employed in exploitative conditions. According to the NZZ report, the investigation by Milan prosecutor Paolo Storari has spent more than two years tracing a network of subcontractors that supplied well-known labels while relying on low-paid labor, excessive hours, unsafe workplaces and makeshift sleeping quarters. The latest enforcement action came in July, when financial police searched the Milan headquarters of 11 luxury brands, including Chanel, Bulgari and Moncler, over suspicions that their suppliers had passed work to Chinese-run factories with poor labor standards. Several international outlets reported that the wider probe also touched names such as Prada, Givenchy and Dolce & Gabbana, underscoring how broad the inquiry has become. The investigation gained momentum after earlier raids in Milan’s industrial belt, where police found illegal migrant workers laboring in cramped conditions for factories making items such as garment covers, shopping bags and handbags for luxury clients. In one case reported in May 2025, authorities arrested a Chinese workshop owner after discovering that six of ten workers were undocumented and were allegedly working up to 90 hours a week for about 4 euros an hour. Storari’s method has been unusually aggressive for labor enforcement. The NZZ account says he has used a court-supervised administration tool originally designed to fight mafia infiltration, placing companies under outside oversight to force changes in purchasing practices, audit systems and supplier controls. That approach has already been applied in cases involving Alviero Martini, Armani, Dior, Valentino, Loro Piana and Tod’s, and some companies have been released early after tightening supervision of their supply chains. The campaign has also exposed a political fight over who should bear responsibility for conditions deep in the production chain. Tod’s chairman Diego Della Valle has argued publicly that brands cannot fully police every layer of outsourcing, while Italy’s government briefly considered shielding fashion groups from liability before dropping the proposal after union criticism. For prosecutors, the larger issue is whether the industry’s reliance on distant subcontracting has become a system of deliberate ignorance rather than isolated abuse. Disclaimer: This article may have been created with AI assistance and reviewed by our editorial team. It is provided for general informational purposes only. Readers should verify information independently before relying on this content. Sources by paragraph: Paragraph 1: [2], [3] Paragraph 2: [2], [4], [5], [6] Paragraph 3: [3] Paragraph 4: [1] Paragraph 5: [1] https://www.nzz.ch/wirtschaft/razzien-in-der-italienischen-modeindustrie-am-rande-von-mail... https://www.bgnes.com/ethical-business/italian-police-raid-luxury-fashion-brands-over-alle... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3311124/chinese-workshop-owner-arrested-ita... https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/fashion-and-beauty/2026/07/19/2543206/italian-police-ra... https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/07/16/italian-police-conduct-raids-on-several-luxu... https://www.luxurytribune.com/en/why-were-the-offices-of-brunello-cucinelli-goyard-and-mon... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3360847/italian-police-raid-luxury-brands-b...
Italian police raids on luxury fashion offices in Milan have drawn new attention to a supply-chain scandal that prosecutors say reaches from polished boutiques in the city center to hidden workshops on the outskirts, where Chinese workers have allegedly been employed in exploitative conditions. According to the NZZ report, the investigation by Milan prosecutor Paolo Storari has spent more than two years tracing a network of subcontractors that supplied well-known labels while relying on low-paid labor, excessive hours, unsafe workplaces and makeshift sleeping quarters. The latest enforcement action came in July, when financial police searched the Milan headquarters of 11 luxury brands, including Chanel, Bulgari and Moncler, over suspicions that their suppliers had passed work to Chinese-run factories with poor labor standards. Several international outlets reported that the wider probe also touched names such as Prada, Givenchy and Dolce & Gabbana, underscoring how broad the inquiry has become. The investigation gained momentum after earlier raids in Milan’s industrial belt, where police found illegal migrant workers laboring in cramped conditions for factories making items such as garment covers, shopping bags and handbags for luxury clients. In one case reported in May 2025, authorities arrested a Chinese workshop owner after discovering that six of ten workers were undocumented and were allegedly working up to 90 hours a week for about 4 euros an hour. Storari’s method has been unusually aggressive for labor enforcement. The NZZ account says he has used a court-supervised administration tool originally designed to fight mafia infiltration, placing companies under outside oversight to force changes in purchasing practices, audit systems and supplier controls. That approach has already been applied in cases involving Alviero Martini, Armani, Dior, Valentino, Loro Piana and Tod’s, and some companies have been released early after tightening supervision of their supply chains. The campaign has also exposed a political fight over who should bear responsibility for conditions deep in the production chain. Tod’s chairman Diego Della Valle has argued publicly that brands cannot fully police every layer of outsourcing, while Italy’s government briefly considered shielding fashion groups from liability before dropping the proposal after union criticism. For prosecutors, the larger issue is whether the industry’s reliance on distant subcontracting has become a system of deliberate ignorance rather than isolated abuse. Disclaimer: This article may have been created with AI assistance and reviewed by our editorial team. It is provided for general informational purposes only. Readers should verify information independently before relying on this content. Sources by paragraph: Paragraph 1: [2], [3] Paragraph 2: [2], [4], [5], [6] Paragraph 3: [3] Paragraph 4: [1] Paragraph 5: [1] https://www.nzz.ch/wirtschaft/razzien-in-der-italienischen-modeindustrie-am-rande-von-mail... https://www.bgnes.com/ethical-business/italian-police-raid-luxury-fashion-brands-over-alle... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3311124/chinese-workshop-owner-arrested-ita... https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/fashion-and-beauty/2026/07/19/2543206/italian-police-ra... https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/07/16/italian-police-conduct-raids-on-several-luxu... https://www.luxurytribune.com/en/why-were-the-offices-of-brunello-cucinelli-goyard-and-mon... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3360847/italian-police-raid-luxury-brands-b...
Global Sources2026/08/10