Giorgio Armani operations in judicial administration for gangmasters

“It did not prevent labor exploitation.” The Prevention Measures Section of the Court of Milan has ordered judicial administration for Giorgio Armani operations spa, a company that designs and produces clothing and accessories for the fashion giant’s group. The decision came after an investigation by prosecutors Paolo Storari and Luisa Baima Bollone and the Carabinieri of the Labor Inspectorate Unit. It is the second case in a few months after that of Alviero Martini spa. For this reason, the president of the Court of Milan, Fabio Roia, believes a “table” on this front is necessary.

At the center of the new investigation, the alleged exploitation of labor, through the use of illegal factories in contracts for the production and the use of illegal and clandestine Chinese labor. The company was deemed “incapable of preventing and curbing phenomena of labor exploitation within the production cycle”, since it did not “implement suitable measures to verify the real working conditions or the technical capabilities of the contracting companies”. By doing so he “culpably” facilitated the gangmaster.

“Exploitation, illegal workers, sanitary conditions below the ethical minimum”

Specifically, it was ascertained that the fashion house has entrusted – through an in-house company “created ad hoc” to design and produce fashion and accessories collections – “the entire production of part of the 2024 collection of bags and accessories to a company third parties, with complete outsourcing of production processes”. The supplier company in turn outsourced the orders to Chinese factories, which reduced costs by “resorting to the use of irregular labor” and in “exploitative conditions”.

The aim: to maximize profits by reducing labor costs (“contributions, insurance and direct taxes”), using “illegal” and irregular workers, without observing health and safety regulations in the workplace, without respecting contracts collectives.

The factories were in the provinces of Milan and Bergamo. Four of those checked were found to be irregular: out of 29 workers, 12 were employed illegally, 9 irregular in Italy. The conditions were “exploitative”: low payments, non-compliant working hours, unhealthy environments, no training, “sanitary and sanitary conditions below an ethical minimum” in the illegal dormitories that housed the workforce.

4 company owners of Chinese origin were reported for gangmastering, and 9 people who did not have their residence permits in order. Fines of 80 thousand euros and administrative sanctions of 65 thousand were imposed. Suspension of activity has been ordered for four companies.

The prosecutor: “Illicit practice rooted in increasing business”

The judicial administration of Giorgio Armani Operations – which has a “preventive” and not “repressive” purpose – was decided by judges Pendino, Rispoli and Cucciniello on the basis of a “comprehensive investigative activity” by the Carabinieri: inspections, testimonies, documents. According to prosecutors, “a deep-rooted and proven illicit practice” aimed at “increasing business” was revealed. And only “a modern corporate test can resolve “pathological” situations.

In the shed we worked and slept. The workers worked 10 hours a day (but for the contracts there were only 4)

The company that came under fire has 1,212 employees (including 10 managers, 454 workers, 677 office workers). The papers talk about several inspections carried out in companies that worked for Armani between 2017 and 2024, and which produced bags, accessories and leather goods. For example, last January 11th investigators entered a warehouse in Pieve Emanuele (Milan): the warehouse was “divided” into a production area and a residential area, built illegally.

On the production equipment, safety devices had been removed to avoid injuries and the emergency shutdown device had been tampered with. Medical visits were never scheduled for workers. Officially they worked 4 hours, in reality it appears that on average they worked 10 hours a day, as a worker testified. As a result, the payments were “below the ethical minimum”: 2-3 euros an hour.

“Workforce available 24 hours a day”. There were those who earned 50 cents a piece

Inspections revealed safety issues. Such as containers of chemical and flammable substances not kept in suitable rooms, but rather near paper boxes. The warehouses housed “refreshment points” to eat or rest for a few hours, all aimed at having “a workforce immediately available and available 24 hours a day”. In another warehouse, the workers we spoke to said they received between 3 and 4 euros an hour. Another was paid by the piece, from 0.50 to 1 euro per piece.

“More indicators of worker exploitation have emerged”. For the judges, a wake-up call

For the judges, “multiple indicators of worker exploitation” emerged: “degrading” housing situations, “unhealthy” environments dangerous for safety, food stored next to chemical substances, protective equipment for workers removed, workers “always available” and “continuously monitored, given that the production pace reached 14 hours a day”. Furthermore, direct taxes relating to labor costs and safety costs were evaded. “The story photographed by the investigations relating to the four Chinese companies is in truth a symptomatic alarm bell of a more extensive and widespread organization of production”, the judges write.

The mechanism in question “was negligently endorsed by the company, which never verified the real entrepreneurial capacity of the contracting companies to which it entrusted the production”. For the judges “there is no doubt that the company never actually controlled the production chain”.

Armani: “We have done the checks”

“The company has always had control and prevention measures in place to minimize abuses in the supply chain.” Thus in a note Giorgio Armani comments on the prevention measure ordered by the Milan court. “GA Operations – concludes the note – will collaborate with the utmost transparency with the competent bodies to clarify its position with respect to the matter”.

The president of the Court of Milan: “We need a table”

This is “the second prevention measure adopted by the Autonomous Prevention Measures Section of the Court of Milan against a company operating in the fashion sector” and “it would therefore be appropriate to start, by reactivating similar initiatives implemented for example in the logistics sector by the Prefecture of Milan, a table that further preventatively allows us to grasp the operational critical issues of entrepreneurs in this which constitutes a market sector of particular relevance for the national economic system”. This was written by the president of the Court of Milan Fabio Roia, speaking of a case that comes shortly after that of Alviero Martini spa.