The Italian police once again raided luxury fashion houses – subcontractors have been suspected of exploiting cheap workers for years

The Italian police and prosecutors have demanded documents from the companies about, for example, the control of supply chains.

On Thursday, police visited the headquarters of Brunello Cucinelli, Moncler, Chanel, Bulgari, Jacob Cohen Company, Etro, Stefano Ricci, Goyard Italia and Owenscorp Italia.

None of the nine companies are under investigation themselves, according to court documents seen by Reuters.

Police carried out a similar operation in Milan last December 2025. At that time, the police visited the offices of 13 luxury brands, including Gucci, Prada and Dolce & Gabbana.

During the long-running investigation, the authorities have raided several dozens of mostly migrant-owned subcontractor sweatshops on the outskirts of Milan.

The raids have shown that the subcontractors have grossly violated the terms and conditions of the employees, for example by neglecting work safety and by doing unreasonable amounts of work hours at very low wages.

Long ones subcontracting chains, whose worker gets at worst a few euros a day for their work, are typical for the production of luxury brands.

Several workshops of subcontractors of luxury brands operating in Italy have been accused of exploiting undocumented Chinese workers in particular.

On Thursday, the police also visited two Chinese-owned sweatshops that manufacture shopping bags and purses for luxury brands.