Dior Cleared in Antitrust Probe — But Did Anything Really Change?
1. The Backstory: What Sparked the Investigation
As we all know, in 2024, Italian prosecutors cracked down on a network of shady subcontracted workshops making leather goods for big-name luxury brands — Dior and Armani included. The conditions? Straight up exploitation. Undocumented workers, 12+ hour shifts, illegal wages, unsafe buildings. Some were getting paid €1–2 an hour to churn out goods that retail for four figures.
And here’s the kicker: all of it was happening under the luxury umbrella. That’s what made this one hit different.
Italy’s antitrust authority (AGCM) stepped in to investigate whether Dior’s shiny ethics and sustainability claims were more PR spin than reality.
2. The Fallout
Dior wasn’t running these workshops directly — that’s not how this game works. But the spotlight turned on what they knew, what they chose not to know, and how they still managed to market themselves as an ethical brand.
The real question became: if you’re profiting from a system that relies on exploitation, can you still call yourself responsible?
Spoiler: legally, yes — apparently.
3. Why This Was a Big Deal
Luxury sells more than product. It sells belief. Belief in quality, in heritage, in values. And lately, that includes ethics and sustainability.
But the minute a brand claims that — “we care about people and planet” — it stops being a marketing flex and starts being a legal promise. You don’t get to say one thing and do another. That’s the whole point of consumer protection law. And that’s exactly why this case mattered. It cracked open the disconnect between what brands say and what actually happens down the line.
4. Why Dior Was Cleared
Here’s how Dior got the case closed: they agreed to a list of voluntary pledges. No admission of guilt. No penalty. Just vibes.
The list includes:
A €2 million fund, spread over five years, for initiatives helping exploited workers.
Updating their marketing language to better align with reality.
Offering ethics and labor law training to suppliers.
Teaching internal teams how to not accidentally break consumer laws when they write taglines.
And with that — case closed.
5. So... What Just Happened?
Let’s call it what it is: a quiet exit strategy. Dior paid what, to them, is pocket change, promised to do better, and walked away with a clean record.
It’s damage control — not disruption. Nothing about this screams systemic change. There’s no transparency. No worker reparations. No meaningful accountability.
Yes, they made some moves. But would they have done any of it if this hadn’t blown up in the media? Probably not. And that’s the part that stings.
The supply chain is still outsourced. The risks are still invisible. And brands like Dior still have every incentive to look the other way until they’re forced not to.
So while the headlines might say Dior was “cleared,” let’s be clear about what that means. They weren’t proven innocent — they just weren’t held responsible.
And if this didn’t shift the system, what will?