Chinese and south Asian workers in Italian cities including Prato and Milan have in recent years exposed a darker reality behind the “Made in Italy” label: poverty wages, excessive working hours and workplaces with little or no protection are allegedly fuelling a hidden network of sweatshops.
The manufacturing operations of some of the world’s leading fashion houses, including Valentino, Armani and Dior, have been linked to suppliers accused of exploiting migrant workers in Italy.
On the outskirts of Milan, a Chinese migrant tailor who had worked for luxury brands including Loro Piana reportedly worked 13 hours a day, without holidays, for as many as 90 hours a week. He was paid just €1,500 (£1,300) a month – equivalent to roughly €4 an hour – less than the price of a single cashmere baby jumper sold by the brand.
Hired through a third-party contractor, workers such as the tailor often live inside the workshops where they work. Their residence permits can be tied to their employment, leaving them in a vulnerable position and making it difficult to challenge abusive working conditions.
The case came to the attention of Italian police and prosecutors after the tailor was allegedly beaten with an iron rod by his employer when he sought to recover unpaid wages.
Over the past two years, Italian labour authorities and courts have intensified their crackdown on workshops accused of exploiting workers to manufacture goods for luxury fashion brands. Five major brands have become embroiled in investigations, including Valentino, Armani, Dior and Loro Piana, which was recently placed under court supervision.
Loro Piana has denied any involvement and said it would co-operate with the investigation, while terminating its relationship with the supplier within 24 hours of becoming aware of the allegations. Armani and Dior, meanwhile, have pledged to introduce measures to monitor their suppliers’ conduct in real time.
The truth behind ‘Made in Italy’: a hidden garment network
Italy’s fashion manufacturing industry is worth an estimated € 96 billion( £83 billion) a year, with about 600,000 workers in Milan alone.
But in an effort to reduce costs, many brands outsource production to small workshops in areas including Prato and Lombardy, some of which are operated by Chinese business owners.
Some workshops are accused of employing undocumented workers for as little as €4 an hour, while requiring them to work up to 90 hours a week without proper legal protections. The result, critics say, is a largely invisible but brutal low-cost manufacturing chain operating beneath the polished image of Italian luxury fashion.
Many Chinese migrants depend on employers for their residence permits, while their accommodation, employment and legal status can also be closely controlled. This can leave workers with little ability to resist exploitation.
Roberta Griffini, a representative of the CGIL trade union, said large fashion groups can make accountability difficult by repeatedly buying from and outsourcing production through layers of suppliers and subcontractors.
Many workers also produce goods for several different brands at the same time, further blurring the lines of responsibility when labour abuses are uncovered.
Rare strike wave in Prato as workers fight back
In the northern Italian city of Prato, the trade union S.I. Cobas organised 28 strikes in June last year to protest against working conditions in thousands of workshops accused of exploiting workers.
Workers are reportedly paid as little as €800( £685) a month and required to work more than 84 hours a week, with little or no insurance or other employment protection.
Prato is home to about 20,000 workers, many of them from China and south Asia. Luca Toscano, a union coordinator, said many workers feared exposing their immigration status and were therefore reluctant to join unions. Some have allegedly faced threats to their personal safety.
Despite those risks, some workers have begun to break their silence, organising to demand basic labour rights, decent wages and greater protection.
Fashion industry faces growing pressure to take responsibility
The scandal has highlighted the labour conditions that can exist behind the polished image of luxury brands such as Armani and Dior: a supply chain dependent on workers who are allegedly subjected to poverty wages, excessive hours and precarious conditions.
The protests in Prato are more than a labour dispute, campaigners argue. They represent a broader challenge to what they describe as structural exploitation within Italy’s fashion and textile industry. For workers facing similar conditions elsewhere in the global fashion supply chain, their resistance has also become a symbol of the fight for basic rights, dignity and fair pay.