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Archive ยท Milan14 September 2026

Loro Piana audited a jacket contractor with no factory and the audit sheet didn't check: inside the Milan decree

Loro Piana's judicial administration ran from the decree of 8 July 2025 to its early revocation in April 2026. The instrument is article 34 of Italy's anti-mafia code, and it doesn't require the house to have done anything deliberate: the test is culpable facilitation, a supply chain whose checks were loose enough to let exploitation happen three links down the chain. It was the fifth such order on a luxury name from the Milan court, after Alviero Martini, Dior (@dior), Armani and Valentino (@maisonvalentino). The chain the investigators mapped: Evergreen, a Milan contractor with no production floor; Sor-Man, a knitwear firm in Nova Milanese that had sewn everything itself until 2021; then two workshops, one of them in Baranzate, where the jackets were actually made. The knitwear firm's legal representative told investigators the agreed price for Loro Piana (@loropiana) jackets was 118 euros each on orders over 100 pieces, and that she paid the workshops 80 euros a piece, 86 with the cutting. The jackets retailed at 1,000 to 3,000 euros. The Milan protocol of 26 May 2025, signed at the Prefecture by the court, the prosecutors, the carabinieri and the labour inspectorate among others, sets the audit floor for brands that join: at least 40% of direct suppliers a year, or 30% of annual purchase value, on a three-year term that renews. Its annex asks every supplier on the platform to list its sites, its headcount, and each machine with its production capacity. The May 2024 audit sheet at Evergreen recorded no check on production capacity.

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The post, as it ran

01LORO PIANA AUDITED A JACKET CONTRACTOR THAT HAD NO FACTORY. THE AUDIT SHEET DIDN'T ASK.
02THE CONTRACTOR: AN OFFICE IN A MILAN BASEMENT. NO PRODUCTION FLOOR, NO MACHINES, NOBODY SEWING. ITS 2024 AUDIT SHEET CARRIES NOT ONE LINE ON WHETHER IT COULD MAKE ANYTHING.
03THE JACKETS WENT ON TO A KNITWEAR FIRM IN NOVA MILANESE. IT STARTED ON 200 A SEASON IN 2000. THE ORDERS GREW TO 3,000 A SEASON, 6,000 TO 7,000 A YEAR.
04UNTIL 2021 THAT FIRM SEWED EVERYTHING ITSELF. THEN IT CUT STAFF AND MACHINES, KEPT THE CLIENT, AND SENT THE WORK TO TWO CHINESE-RUN WORKSHOPS.
05INVESTIGATORS DIDN'T NEED A STOPWATCH. THEY READ ONE WORKSHOP'S ELECTRICITY METER: MACHINES ON FROM 08:45 TO 21:45, SEVEN DAYS A WEEK, SUNDAYS AN HOUR SHORTER.
06IT BEGAN WITH ONE WORKER'S COMPLAINT. TWELVE-HOUR DAYS, WAGES THAT STOPPED, AND A BEATING WHEN HE ASKED FOR THEM. HIS WORKSHOP WAS RAIDED ON 13 MAY 2025.
07LORO PIANA SAYS IT LEARNED OF THE WORKSHOPS ON 20 MAY AND CUT THE CONTRACTOR WITHIN 24 HOURS. THE JUDGES' WORD FOR THAT TIMING: UNTIMELY. FOR THE AUDITS: MORE FORMAL THAN SUBSTANTIVE.
08THE ORDER OF 8 JULY 2025 DIDN'T TAKE THE COMPANY. MANAGEMENT STAYED. A COURT-APPOINTED ADMINISTRATOR WAS NAMED FOR ONE YEAR, THE SUPPLIER CONTRACTS HER BRIEF. NOBODY AT THE HOUSE WAS UNDER INVESTIGATION.
09MILAN LIFTED IT IN APRIL 2026, AHEAD OF SCHEDULE. THE HOUSE'S OWN COUNT BY THEN: ABOUT 2,400 SUPPLIER AUDITS, OVER 100 SUPPLIERS DROPPED.
10THE MILAN PROTOCOL OF 26 MAY 2025, QUOTED IN THE RULING, ASKS BRANDS THAT JOIN TO AUDIT AT LEAST 40% OF DIRECT SUPPLIERS A YEAR, OR 30% OF ANNUAL PURCHASES BY VALUE. ITS ANNEX ASKS EACH SUPPLIER TO LIST EVERY MACHINE AND ITS CAPACITY.
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