According to the Financial Times, since 2020 the Milan-based company has conducted more than 850 on-site inspections across its Italian suppliers and subcontractors, including all-night stake-outs outside subcontractors’ factories. Over a quarter of inspections resulted in terminations.
In its audit, it found evidence of serious labour law breaches, including the presence of dormitories within factories where workers slept. However, these were less common than other forms of non-compliance, such as inadequate health and safety measures and issues in how waste is handled.
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The report says Prada has about 1000 suppliers at present and registered subcontractors.
Italy’s luxury fashion industry has come under intense scrutiny during a sprawling and acrimonious investigation by Milan prosecutors into alleged labour abuse in its domestic supply chain.
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By GlobalDataWhile Prada is not under investigation, in December, Milanese prosecutors asked the group to hand over information about its supply chain.
The luxury brand told the FT that it carried out 188 supplier inspections last year, leading to 43 dismissals.
The rate of terminations has slowed since Prada kicked off the audits in 2020, when it carried out 143 inspections with more than half resulting in a termination of the supply contracts. The rate of terminations “came down because we adopted a zero tolerance approach”, Prada said.
Prada did not return request for comment when approached by Just Style.
