Tod’s boss Diego Della Valle is of the opinion that “the next step has to be proper new legislation tailored to our industry, it takes 10 days to establish what the problems are and which solutions to put forward.” He spoke after several fashion labels, including Tod’s, were placed under judicial administration. Tod’s and three of its senior executives have been investigated by the Milan prosecutor’s office for alleged labour exploitation by some of its manufacturing subcontractors.

“If we want to solve this issue,” said Della Valle, speaking at Tod’s fashion week presentation in Milan, “we need to talk about it… if we’re keen to solve [it] we could do it very quickly. We have to understand that small artisans are powerless because they need the work, how can they monitor five stages in the supply chain?”

“We need to sit down and take the time to understand that small entrepreneurs are injured parties, and we must protect them,” continued Della Valle. “It mustn’t even cross our mind to talk about labour exploitation, ours is a world of decent people. The [current labour] law was introduced over 20 years ago to fight really serious, nasty problems existing at the time, especially in agricultural areas. We can’t have people around the world say that we don’t care about the work of others, because that’s not true,” he added. “Entrepreneurs and legislators, we have the job of sitting at a table together, with the goal of drawing up within a month a law that will apply to and protect everyone concerned,” said Della Valle.

“When I invited [RAI TV programme] Report to visit our company,” said Della Valle about the recently broadcast interview, “I was happy to do so, because I wanted them to see what our companies are like, how they work locally. Companies do many things for their communities, I don’t want to talk about myself, many other businessmen do it. Let’s show – this is what I’m asking – the nice side [of our world] too, otherwise it’s all just horrible.” Della Valle recommended that “my entrepreneur friends invite lawmakers in their local areas to show them their companies, and I’m sure we’ll all make a grand impression.”

“Dozens of workers have been with us for three generations, and they work with integrity and have solid personal principles because that’s their background. My grandfather was a shoemaker, it’s not as if we come from the moon, it’s just not part of Italian entrepreneurial culture to be exploitative. Often, when these things happen, those who’re involved in the work aren’t even aware of them,” concluded Della Valle.