Luxury brands advertise exclusive materials and heritage in exchange for a high price tag. This comes with an assumption that, the more one pays for a luxury product, the more care and artistry were involved in its creation. The reality of luxury brands’ manufacturing, however, often involves overseas exploitation, especially in nations with less stringent labor protections. These practices expose a troubling disconnect between the perception of luxury and the cost of human lives involved in its production.

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The Truth of Luxury Production

Luxury products and fast fashion are not as separate from one another as major brands make consumers believe.

Dana Thomas, American fashion journalist and author of Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster has investigated human rights violations at luxury brands, including Burberry, Prada, and Gucci. She reveals that brands advertised as made in Europe are often sourced or partially sourced from factories in China that exploit workers and engage in forced labor. Thomas states, “I visited a factory in Guangdong Province and held the bags in my hands. To see them, I had to promise the manufacturer that I wouldn’t reveal the brand names. Each brand made the manufacturer sign a confidentiality agreement stipulating that he could not reveal the fact that he produced their products in China,” signifying that luxury brands are often complicit in and aware of their dark deals regarding forced labor, despite their high-end prices.

Certain manufacturers in China have confirmed producing both the luxury made product and the “dupe,” or counterfeit equivalent, within the same factory, with one posting on TikTok, “They sell you a [sic] legging pants for $100, and guess what? Here in these two factories, you can get them for around $5 to $6. And what’s even better, the material and the craftsmanship are basically the same because they all come from the same production line.” 

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The Hidden Cost

Brands like Italian MaxMara, journalists note, pay very little for their expensive products while the workers are left with slave wages. An Italian woman working in a MaxMara factory revealed, “It takes me about one hour to sew one meter, so about four to five hours to complete an entire coat… I try to do two coats per day.” Despite her efforts, she was reportedly paid just one euro per completed meter of luxury fabric. Meanwhile, MaxMara sold these coats for 800 to 2,000 euros ($935 to $2,340) as seasonal attire in 2018.

Dior, another example, reportedly pays incredibly low wages to the factory workers while doubling the cost for the average consumer. Prosecutors found that Dior paid just $57 for bags priced at $2,780. As a result, workers are not fairly compensated for the difficult labor and often spend their lives in poverty.

Even brands praised for quiet luxury, a style coined for modest or incognito wealth, have been exposed for immoral labor practices. Loro Piana was recently under investigation due to their Indigenous Peruvian fiber suppliers being severely underpaid while providing the brand’s vicuña wool. Loro Piana sells coats made with vicuña fiber ranging from $3,350 to $39,500, while many vicuña suppliers live in poverty. The company calls the wool “the fibre of the gods,” appropriating Andean Indigenous belief systems, which regard the animal as sacred. Loro Piana has also been criticized for claiming the Indigenous people’s conservation efforts of the vicuña as the brand’s own while exploiting the people’s labor. Clearly, the Indigenous people and their sacred animals are not respected by Loro Piana; they are simply a commodity turned into a selling point for their clothing and luxury goods.

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Designer Perfume Invisible Labor

Some perfume brands go beyond underpaid factory work; they are also complicit in child labor to supply rare floral ingredients that increase product luxury overseas. An investigation found that Lancôme’s Idôle L’Intense perfume sources jasmine from Egypt, where low wages compel flower pickers to enlist their children to help meet production demands. With limited opportunities available, entire villages have been forced to rely on low-paying jasmine-picking as a source of income. As a result, they have become exploited labor for brands relying on the unique scent of jasmine being sourced from Egypt.

L’Oréal and Estée Lauder have reportedly relied on the same jasmine farms, exploiting Egyptian children for a profit. While these companies treat Egyptians as cheap labor, they place a high price on their luxury brand items. Estée Lauder, for example, sells AERIN Ikat Jasmine Eau de Parfum Spray for $150, emphasizing the crisp jasmine scent.

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End Exploitation

Many luxury brands profit from people who live in vulnerable conditions. Many struggle to make ends meet, live in impoverished regions, and have no choice but to accept jobs that do not compensate fairly. Brands established in wealthy countries purposely take advantage of people in regions where there are fewer protections for laborers and limited advocacy for human rights. There is no justification for workers earning pennies to sustain brand names and luxury consumption. Wealth does not flex morality, and these companies must do their part in protecting human life.