The Milan prosecutor’s office has launched a gangster investigation into Italian fashion company Tod’s. The luxury brand itself and three of its executives ultimately came under the scrutiny of investigators. Prosecutors accused them of doing this exploiting workers’ labor who work in the company’s production chain: the workers will be paid 2.75 euros per hour, work around the clock, even on holidays, without contracts and sleep in illegal dormitories; Therefore, investigators requested that Tod’s be prohibited from advertising its products for six months. Tod’s is just the latest luxury brand to fall under the radar of the Milan prosecutor’s office. The prosecutor has asked for the administration of justice Spa Alviero Martini, Armani Operations, Dior, Loro Piana and Valentino for similar questions. With the new request, the prosecutor’s office stepped up its investigation, accusing Tod of directly committing exploitation.
The number of workers involved in the exploitation case was 56 Chinese citizens and worked in 6 different jobs companies that supply products to Tod’sall of them are distributed between Lombardy and Marche. The prosecutor’s office claimed that even though it had entrusted the work of monitoring respect for workers’ rights in the factory to a third party, the luxury brand directly guilty of exploitation because it will not take into account “in the slightest” the results of the “examination”. In documentation presented over 144 pages, prosecutors claimed that Tod’s and its three managers – Simone Bernardini, Mirko Bartoloni and Vittorio Mascioni – had «full awareness» exploitative working conditions of the workers, spoke of “willful blindness.” Based on these allegations, the company management is certain to know the working conditions of the subcontracted workers because they received information through dozens of audits. The case hearing is scheduled for December 3.
The head of the investigation was prosecutor Paolo Storari, promoter of what is now called the “Storari method”, which consists of investigating not only contracting companies and subcontractors, but also clients. Tod’s distanced itself from the accusations, stating that it “makes ethical values a mainstay” and analyzes new material “calmly”. The company talks about «worrying time» The accusations that Storari will submit: refer to the Supreme Court’s decision on the application for company management made by Storari himself, which was issued on November 19. Before accusing the company of gangmastering, Storari had actually requested to place Tod’s under the administration of justice, accusing it of not conducting the necessary inspections of its subcontractor factories, and thus doing the same. facilitate worker exploitation. This request has been rejected twice not for reasons of substance, but for form: last summer, in fact, only factories in the Marche region were investigated; therefore the judges maintained it jurisdiction over the case rests with the Ancona district attorney’s office. On November 19, the Supreme Court again rejected Storari’s request, but the reasons for the sentence have not been made public.
In the last year and a half, Storari has done just that seeking administration of justice for many other fashion companies. The investigation began last summer: in that period an investigation was also carried out against Loro Piana, a luxury brand specializing in cashmere clothing. Even in the Loro Piana case, the prosecutor has asked for the position of commissioner reconstructing the system of gangmastering and exploitation that harms workers. Other luxury brands involved are Alviero Martini, Armani Operations, Dior Manufactures and Valentino Bag Lab. With accusations of gangmastering, Storari took a step forward in the investigation involving the Italian fashion company: Tod’s, in fact, was no longer accused of not carrying out the necessary checks, but of being aware of the conditions of worker exploitation, and carrying out deliberately ignoring the situation; in short, it is no longer a matter of guilt, but a matter of true hatred.
