The Italian Fashion Chamber issued a statement during Milan Fashion Week defending the system following a report by The New York Times on exploited workers in the luxury supply chain in the southern region of Puglia.

The chamber said in a statement the report “embitters and perplexes us for many reasons,” and noted that it has been working to make “the Italian supply chain resilient, fair and protective on all fronts.”

The chamber acknowledged it had been more than 40 years since the last comprehensive study of irregular labor in Italy’s fashion sector, but said the most recent estimate put the number at 2,000-4,000 workers in an industry that employs 620,000 people in 67,000 companies.

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