San Francisco Frontiers - Italy sweatshop probe snares more luxury brands

Milan prosecutor Paolo Storari issued requests for information about alleged abuses by the brands, although they are not yet under formal investigation.

It is the biggest expansion to date of a probe launched last year into the luxury sector, which has exposed wage and working hour violations, safety breaches and substandard housing for staff.

"As part of the investigations... there have been reports of Chinese workers being employed in conditions of severe exploitation," Storari wrote to the brands in documents made public Thursday.

The document reveals that luxury bags, wallets and clothing were found during searches of Italian workshops employing Chinese and Pakistani workers under exploitative conditions.

It requests information including internal governance documents and audit information related to the brands' supply chains.

The documents were sent to some of the fashion industry's high-flyers, from Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Alexander McQueen -- which form part of French luxury group Kering -- to Givenchy, which is part of French giant LVMH.

Prosecutors also named Italian brands Prada and its new acquisition, Versace, as well as Ferragamo, Pinko, Dolce & Gabbana, Missoni, Off-White, Coccinelle and German sportswear giant Adidas.

None of the brands immediately replied to AFP requests for comment.

- Inspections -

Milan prosecutors have already launched investigations against Tod's, Loro Piana, Dior's Italian subsidiary Manufactures Dior, Giorgio Armani Operations, Alviero Martini and Valentino Bags Lab.

All but Tod's were placed under temporary court administration in order to correct compliance issues and establish systems to avoid future abuses.

On Wednesday, a Milan judge allowed Tod's more time to complete an evaluation of their supply chain controls as prosecutors seek to impose a temporary advertising ban and outside administrators.

The probes have cast a spotlight on the near-ubiquitous practice of luxury brands subcontracting work to suppliers, who in turn contract to others, amid ever-tighter margins and scant oversight of labour conditions.

Under Italian law, companies can be held responsible for offences committed by representatives -- such as approved suppliers -- acting in their interest.

Italy's government has gone on the offensive, with Industry Minister Adolfo Urso saying the reputation of "Made in Italy" brands was "under attack".

Campaigners against sweatshops, however, say, the brands themselves impose prices on their contractors that are too low, driving them to subcontract to second- and third-tier suppliers where oversight is lacking.

Deborah Lucchetti, Italy's coordinator for the Clean Clothes Campaign, called worker exploitation a "structural phenomenon" within the sector.

"Made in Italy cannot be a stage on which to celebrate astronomical profits built on the denial of dignity to those who sew, assemble, and finish products," she said in a statement Thursday.

The request for information from prosecutors follows inspections at five suppliers used by multiple brands, as recently as November.

Between three and 19 workers, most of them Chinese but also Pakistani, worked at each supplier and were named in the documents.

Some of the brands targeted are the parent companies' Italian subsidiaries, such as Yves Saint Laurent Manifatture, Alexander McQueen Italia and Givenchy Italia.

N.Wilson--SFF