Luxury brands under scrutiny over labour practices

Italian authorities are turning their attention to the luxury brands at the top of the fashion food chain after allegations of cheap labour and exploitation, CBS News reported on Saturday. The investigation, which follows years of reporting on sweatshop conditions in the supply chains of major fashion houses, has particular resonance in Tuscany, where the leather goods industry that feeds the world's luxury labels is concentrated.

The region's workshops around Florence and in the Arno valley produce the handbags, belts and shoes that carry the names of Paris and Milan houses, but the sector has long been shadowed by reports of subcontractors paying piecework wages far below legal minimums, often to migrant workers labouring in cramped conditions.