Milan proposes a database for supply chains

The prefecture of Milan wants to launch a supply chain database to monitor Italian production more closely. According to the proposal, the contents of which were shared this morning by BoF, the database would only extend to the Lombardy Region and would aim to create a centralized platform for producers, where all necessary documents to certify the legality of work sites can be uploaded. The scheme would thus encourage the regularization of factories, also helping brands and authorities responsible for inspections. The proposal comes a few months after the scandal involving some suppliers of luxury companies like Giorgio Armani S.p.A. and Christian Dior Italia S.A., investigated by the Antitrust for possible inadequate working conditions. To save on production costs, according to the accusation by the Milan judicial authorities, the companies (including other Italian brands like Alviero Martini srl, Betty Blue Spa by Elisabetta Franchi, and Marella Srl) allegedly collaborated with sweatshops, factories located in Milan where workers were exploited, underpaid, and even instructed to lie during inspections.

After the publication of the investigation, Armani and Dior immediately distanced themselves from the supply chains that are currently under seizure. According to the findings of the Antitrust, in the four factories with which the French maison collaborated, workers were found in precarious sanitary conditions, forced to live in the same warehouse where they worked to produce bags that would later be sold in boutiques for thousands of euros at just the cost of 53 euros. The situation quickly angered public opinion and the leaders of companies at the head of Italy’s luxury sector: among them, the President of Camera Moda, Carlo Capasa, who clarified in an email that the prefecture's proposal is still in development. The protocol, Capasa shared with BoF, still needs to be refined, as issues like the geographical scope of the scheme and the challenges related to handling such extensive documentation are yet to be resolved.

Despite the fact that creating a database capable of gathering all documents and personal information from Lombardy’s factories could be a complex undertaking, it could finally address a problem that has affected Italy’s entire production sector for years. If the initiative is successful, it could expand to other sectors and not just focus on clothing, but all Italian production (which, according to recent ISTAT data, has experienced a sharp decline over the past eighteen months). For now, the Milan prefecture is proposing a plan limited to Lombardy and with voluntary participation, which could turn the initiative from an innovation into another failure unless it undergoes reforms once established. The proposal is still in development, at the center of a debate involving governments and law enforcement, unions, and major groups of the Italian fashion industry.