In recent months, several investigations in Italy have exposed the darker side of the luxury industry. Authorities have discovered that some well-known international brands were producing parts of their collections through suppliers employing extremely low-cost labor, often under exploitative or semi-slavery conditions.
In some cases, products sold for thousands of euros were actually made for just a few dozen euros in workshops run by subcontractors—places where workers slept in the same spaces where they worked. This scenario raises serious questions: to what extent do brands truly know their own supply chains? And how can they guarantee transparency and ethical responsibility in production?
The Complexity of Fashion Supply Chains
The fashion and luxury sector is built on an increasingly fragmented and opaque production network. A single garment can involve dozens of suppliers and subcontractors across various countries, making it difficult to monitor every stage of the process.
Many companies outsource part of their production to external workshops, which in turn subcontract to other unofficial entities, often lacking controls or worker protections. This mechanism creates fertile ground for abuses, undeclared labor, exploitation, and even counterfeit “Made in Italy” claims.
Today, consumers are more attentive than ever to sustainability and ethical responsibility: a single scandal can erase years of effort in building brand value.
Corporate Responsibility: Knowing Your Own Supply Chain
In the world of modern luxury, the real challenge is not only aesthetic quality but ethical quality. Companies must know and monitor every link in their production chain—not just to comply with the law, but to defend their reputation.
This means activating structured due diligence and background-check processes capable of identifying in advance:
- irregular working conditions in external workshops;
- unauthorized or fictitious subcontracting;
- links to individuals involved in investigations or illegal activities;
- economic, financial, or tax anomalies;
- potential reputational and image risks.
In short, knowing your supply chain today means protecting your brand before reputational damage stains years of work.
The Vigilar Group Approach: Ethics, Control, and Reputation
Vigilar Group supports companies in gaining an in-depth understanding of their partners and suppliers through an integrated approach combining intelligence, data analysis, and due diligence. The goal is simple: to prevent risks before they become problems, ensuring transparency, compliance, and protection of corporate reputation.
Thanks to its proprietary platform, Info Hunter, Vigilar Group offers a modular supply chain intelligence system capable of promptly detecting legal, economic, reputational, and ESG-related issues throughout the entire production chain.
Our activities include:
- comprehensive mapping of the production chain, tracking direct and indirect suppliers;
- reputational and legal analysis of industrial partners;
- examination of company shareholders and directors’ connections;
- Verification of regulatory, ethical, and environmental compliance;
- Continuous monitoring of media, social networks, and certified databases;
- Predictive risk analysis using AI and big data models.
All analyses are conducted in full compliance with GDPR, using only open, documented, and verifiable sources.
Info Hunter Analysis Levels
Info Hunter operates on two levels of analysis, calibrated according to urgency, budget, and the degree of detected risk:
1️⃣ Preliminary Investigation – AI Check / O.S.Int. Activatable directly by the client, it provides a response within approximately 30 minutes. Based on open-source intelligence and artificial intelligence algorithms, it offers an immediate snapshot of the target’s reputational and operational risk. It serves as a fast initial filter to identify anomalies or warning signs within the supply chain.
2️⃣ Second-Level Investigation – Human Supervision / OSINT & Data Analysis Takes between 2 to 5 days and is supervised by intelligence analysts. Includes in-depth OSINT analysis, verification through certified databases, and the drafting of a complete, guaranteed report on reputational, financial, and legal risks. It provides a reliable foundation for strategic decision-making, internal audits, and ESG compliance assessments.
Third Level (Investigative Due Diligence)
For the most complex cases—when significant risk elements or structural suspicions emerge within the production chain—Vigilar Group can initiate a higher-level investigation. These include verifications of actual ownership, asset holdings, judicial disputes, relational networks, and financial analyses. Such operations are confidential and conducted according to the highest standards of investigative due diligence, ensuring full documentary and evidentiary validity.
A Proactive Approach to Brand Protection
Many companies believe that simply adopting internal compliance procedures is enough to guarantee transparency and legality. However, the reality of luxury supply chains is far more complex: behind seemingly regular supplier networks may lie opaque webs of subcontractors, front companies, and shell entities that escape standard controls.
True protection arises only from an investigative and proactive approach—one that goes beyond documents and self-declarations. Vigilar Group enables companies to truly know their partners by analyzing corporate, reputational, and judicial links, and by reconstructing the entire relational map of the supply chain.
Only those who investigate in depth, can really protect their brand, their value and their reputation.
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