The Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office discovered that some of the Armani Group factories were exploiting cheap Chinese labour. The factories were not under the direct control of the fashion group, but produced bags and accessories for Armani. According to the investigation, the Chinese workers lived in a degraded environment, were underpaid and worked in dangerous conditions.
These factories, active since 2017, were actually dormitory-laboratories scattered between Milan and Bergamo. Here, Chinese workers lived in small and dirty rooms. They were forced to work on 14-hour shifts, including holidays. They were often illegal workers, who earned two euros per hour.
Besides living in a degrading environment, they worked in dangerous conditions. The police discovered that several machines had been deprived of safety measures in order to increase the production speed. For example, the gluing machine lacked the plexiglass insert that prevents workers from getting caught in it. The rotary swing clicking press had no emergency stop device. The sewing machine had no finger guards.
Workers were exploited to increase profit. In this way, a bag sold in Armani Group boutiques for 1800 euros had a production cost of just 90 euros. A practice that authorities are investigating on and which someone will certainly have to answer for. But it should also make us reflect on the impact fashion can have in environmental and social terms.
