Italy wants to rebuild the legend of "Made in Italy". End of exploitation of workers

In the face of serious allegations of exploitation and illegal practices by luxury fashion houses, Italy is taking action to rebuild its "Made in Italy" image.

On May 26, 2025 in Milan , Luca Sburlati, president of the Italian textile association Confindustria Moda, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) whose main objective is to combat illegal practices and exploitation in the fashion industry. The document is a response to growing criticism of working conditions in the sector and an attempt to restore the image of " Made in Italy ".

Sign on the boutique of the Italian fashion house, Giorgio Armani / Shutterstock

In recent years, disturbing reports of abuses in factories cooperating with major fashion houses – such as Dior , Armani and Valentino – have come to light. The employment of unskilled workers at starvation wages, failure to comply with labour laws and lack of supervision of subcontractors have undermined the reputation of Italian industry as a bastion of ethical production. For a country whose economy is largely based on the export of luxury goods , this was a wake-up call.

The protocol involves creating a central database of companies in the supply chain, which will contain information on compliance with tax and labor laws. The database will be updated every six months, and participants in the program will receive a certificate of transparency. The aim is to enable brands and their customers to verify ethical standards at every stage of production – from the workshop to the boutique. For luxury brands, this is a chance to authenticate their production processes, and for consumers – an additional guarantee that the product was created in ethical conditions.

The Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (CNMI), responsible for organizing Milan Fashion Week, also points to the need to better protect sensitive data – including information about brands, customers and know-how. The CNMI also emphasizes that the protocol is currently limited to the Lombardy region, leaving out regions as key to Italian production as Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna.

Confindustria Moda announces further cooperation in implementing the agreement, including the development of production standards that will facilitate the assessment of the fairness of contracts and prices.