Pierre Cardin accused of anti-competitive practices by the UE

The House of Pierre Cardin has reportedly been accused by the European Commission following surprise inspections in June 2021 within the clothing production and distribution sector, of violating anti-trust regulations. As early as July 2023, the Commission expressed concerns in a statement regarding potentially anti-competitive agreements between Pierre Cardin and Ahlers, its German licensee, suspecting both parties of coordinating actions to restrict other licensees' ability to distribute licensed clothing under the Pierre Cardin brand. These agreements covered both online and offline sales within Ahlers’ licensed territories in the European Economic Area, as well as sales through discounted retailers in those regions.

At that time, the Commission had provisionally concluded that the collaboration between Pierre Cardin and Ahlers aimed to ensure complete protection for the licensee within the countries covered by their licensing agreements in the EEA. However, the situation appears to have evolved, as the Commission reportedly now has sufficient evidence to establish that an infraction was committed by the companies, whose behavior would violate EU rules prohibiting anti-competitive agreements between firms. As a result, Pierre Cardin and Ahlers face the prospect of a substantial fine of up to 10% of their annual global revenue. “We have not yet received any official information regarding the fine,” explained a spokesperson for Pierre Cardin.