Armani, Dior face Italian antitrust investigations over labor practices

The Italian Competition Authority has opened an investigation into certain companies controlled by luxury fashion giants Giorgio Armani SpA and LVMH-owned Christian Dior over alleged unfair trade practices.

The antitrust regulator said both brands may have used materials from labs employing workers who were paid “underpaid.” In addition, those workers were sometimes forced to work illegally for long hours in inadequate health and safety conditions that were “in stark contrast to the brands’ lauded levels of manufacturing excellence,” the regulator said in a statement on Wednesday.