Subcontracting and Labor Exploitation in the Luxury Fashion Industry: A Business and Human Rights Perspective

This thesis examines how subcontracting practices within the luxury textile industry contribute to human rights violations and explores the evolving legal and policy frameworks designed to address them. It is grounded in the recognition that corporations, while exerting growing influence over global markets and policy-making, continue to enjoy significant impunity for human rights and environmental abuses. Focusing on the European sector, and particularly on the Italian context, the research adopts a legal and policy-oriented approach within the Business and Human Rights framework. It traces the progression from voluntary corporate social responsibility initiatives to the emergence of mandatory human rights due diligence obligations. The analysis highlights how subcontracting functions as a structural mechanism that allows brands to maintain flexibility and exclusivity while concealing responsibility for exploitative labour practices. The study then connects these dynamics to the specific features of the luxury industry, revealing how the pursuit of craftsmanship, prestige, and efficiency paradoxically sustains labour exploitation. Through two case studies of luxury Maisons, Loro Piana and Montblanc, the research explores both judicial and civil society accountability mechanisms. The findings demonstrate that even luxury brands are implicated in labour abuses within their supply chains, underscoring the need for stronger legal safeguards and enforceable due diligence frameworks.