Italian prosecutors are demanding documentation regarding governance and internal controls from 13 luxury fashion brands, as part of a probe into allegations that the firms played a role in the exploitation of Chinese workers at subcontractor workshops.

The Associated Press reports that the investigation has pointed to "heavy exploitations" of Chinese workers, including hours that exceeded overtime limits, low wages, degrading housing and unsafe workplace conditions. Although the probe initially was focused on luxury group Tod's, prosecutors in Milan, Italy, are also ordering Dolce & Gabbana, Versace, Prada, Gucci and Adidas Italy, among others, to turn over internal audit documents in order to determine whether the companies were involved in the alleged worker abuse. 

When the investigation was first launched on November 20, prosecutors claimed that Tod's was fully aware of, and complicit in, the exploitation of Chinese workers at facilities in Milan and the Marche region. Legal filings accused the company of having an "intentional blindness" toward the abuses, where Tod's carried out third-party audits of the workshops but failed to address any of the issues those audits revealed. Tod's has since denied any wrongdoing.

The Italian government has made a point of cracking down on labor abuses within the country's fashion industry over the last year or so. In April 2024, authorities accused Giorgio Armani of failing to properly monitor the exploitation of Chinese workers at a subcontractor facility. Three months later, Italy's antitrust and consumer protection authority opened an investigation into Armani and Dior for allegedly subcontracting out production of handbags to Chinese companies that violated a litany of ethical labor practice regulations.