MILAN — Loro Piana said Friday it has welcomed the “early conclusion” of the judicial administration imposed since July 2025 for its alleged negligence in properly auditing its supply chain partners.
The measure was originally supposed to be lifted after 12 months, thus in July 2026.
“The steps we have taken in recent months reflect a rigorous and disciplined approach to strengthening governance and oversight across our value chain,” said Frédéric Arnault, chief executive officer of Loro Piana.
“We are firmly committed to the highest level of compliance and ethical conduct across our supply chain. Loro Piana’s teams are fully mobilized and actively engaged to ensure these principles are consistently upheld and to take decisive action whenever our Code of Conduct is not met. We will continue to evolve and reinforce our standards and practices, guided by responsibility and accountability,” the executive added.
According to the Milan Court ruling, the judicial administration was revoked because the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton-owned Italian luxury house “undertook and swiftly completed a virtuous path,” which demonstrates “the company’s commitment to continue the efforts already underway. This commitment is reflected in the adoption and implementation of procedures and best practices, with the objective of establishing itself as a positive and exemplary model for the industry, safeguarding the health and well-being of all workers, including indirect workers.”
Loro Piana said it has conducted 2,400 audits across its supply network since 2024 and has cut ties with about 100 suppliers and subsuppliers that did not meet its compliance criteria. It also made key hires targeted at auditing, in addition to relying on eternal audit support.
Last year, Milan prosecutors launched an investigation into alleged worker exploitation and sweatshop schemes at Loro Piana’s subcontractors. Prosecutors argued that the luxury company was negligent in properly auditing its supply chain partners and requested it be placed under judicial administration to correct and enhance audits and oversight through court-mandated procedures.
At the time, Loro Piana firmly condemned illegal practices and reaffirmed its commitment to human rights and compliance with all applicable regulations in line with its Code of Conduct. The brand pledged to continue to strengthen its control and audit activities.
The Italian brand said that “in breach of its legal and contractual obligations, the supplier did not inform Loro Piana of the existence of these subcontractors,” which were engaged in unlawful labor practices. It terminated all relations with the subcontractor in less than 24 hours. It also committed to full cooperation with the relevant authorities on the matter.
Shortly after the Loro Piana probe became public, LVMH’s chief financial officer Cécile Cabanis addressed it in a webcast reporting 2025 first-half and second-quarter results.
“On Loro Piana, we were not satisfied with the situation, especially because we’ve been working a lot since last year on reworking on all the processes, making sure that we had more audits in place,” the executive said.
“This topic is beyond Loro Piana. It’s a topic that the full industry in Italy is facing, and it’s something that we all will have to manage collectively with the association, with the government as a whole,” she said.
“It shouldn’t create an impact on the [brand’s] image.…Still, we need to make sure that — collectively with everyone — we can solve, or at least improve, the situation of the industry that should [have] very fair practices and clean supply chain, so we need to continue to work on that and obviously there is still progress to be made,” she said.
Her remarks sparked the firm response of Italian industry association Confindustria Moda. Its president Luca Sburlati said: “These challenges must be addressed as partners, not adversaries, with a shared long-term vision and an awareness that the entire supply chain is interdependent and transnational.
“Generalizing all Italian companies as being complicit in illegality is unacceptable, and we will strongly oppose such narratives at every level. Our country deserves better,” he said.
Over the past two years, supply chain scandals have rocked the luxury fashion industry in Italy, shaking both its reputation and business practices.
Investigations by a Milan court that uncovered ties of luxury brands such as Tod’s, Valentino, Dior and Giorgio Armani, among others, to subcontractors allegedly involved in sweatshop schemes have raised concerns about the industry’s ability to manage its supply chains effectively.
Like Loro Piana, all the above brands have been put under judicial administration to correct and enhance audits and oversight through court-mandated procedures, with the exception of Tod’s, which obtained that the judicial administration procedure be handled by an Ancona, Italy, court, which has yet to rule.
Simultaneously, the maker of Gommino loafers and three of its managers are being investigated by prosecutors over suspected labor abuses and accused of allegedly ignoring the findings of inspections by local authorities into the company’s subcontractors.
Dior’s, Giorgio Armani’s and Valentino’s probes have been fully resolved, and the judicial oversight has been lifted, as is Loro Piana’s per Thursday’s ruling.
Last month Paul & Shark and Aspesi were also investigated for alleged negligence in auditing their suppliers, with prosecutors requesting they be placed under judicial administration. However, a Milan judge ruled against the prosecutors’ move, arguing that the legal grounds for the requested measure were not met as there is no proof that Paul & Shark’s chief executive officer Andrea Dini and Aspesi’s board member Francesco Umile Chiappetta acted “in concert” in committing the offense.
Meanwhile, last fall some 13 fashion companies fell under the scrutiny of the same Milan prosecutors and were asked to provide documents on governance and supply chain audits for preliminary probes.
The names involved included Prada, Versace, Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Ferragamo, Missoni, Givenchy Italia, Yves Saint Laurent Manifatture, Alexander McQueen Italia, Adidas Italy, Off-White Operating, Coccinelle and Pinko. None of these have been put under judicial administration.
