Illegal hiring, prosecutor requests Tod’s be placed under administration: ‘Severe labour exploitation’

Milan, 8 October (LaPresse) – The Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office has requested judicial administration for Tod’s spa, the luxury footwear, leather goods and high-quality clothing giant led by Diego and Andrea Della Valle, for negligently facilitating ‘severe labour exploitation’ along its production chain. The request by public prosecutor Paolo Storari – anticipated by Reuters and confirmed to LaPresse – is addressed to the Court of Cassation, which has set a hearing for 19 November after the initial rejection by the preventive measures section of the Milan Court. The involvement of Tod’s, whose board includes figures such as Luca Cordero di Montezemolo and Luigi Abete, in investigations into illegal hiring practices and Chinese factories used in Italian high fashion had already emerged in July 2025 in the investigation that led to the judicial administration of the Loro Piana brand controlled by one of the 10 richest families in the world (the Arnaults). The company is not formally under investigation in the public prosecutor’s file with the Carabinieri of the Milan Labour Inspectorate Unit, but is responding on the basis of Article 34 of the anti-mafia code on “organisational deficiencies” and “failure to carry out checks” that “culpably” facilitate contractors and subcontractors seriously suspected of illegal hiring practices.