August 3, 2022
Italy, home to some of the world's most iconic luxury brands, has key industrial fashion districts that are known for severe worker exploitation. Italian luxury fashion has long been associated with opulent optics and meager wages for undocumented supply chain workers.
However, Prada’s Torgiana studio is a far cry from industry images of physically abused workers and shoddy labor practices. The well-lit production house employs over 120 artisans, technicians and garment workers, who are both Italian and non-native.
One video details that Torgiana is a hub of industrial machinery where Prada’s garments are created in-house. The internal production processes include both machine-dominant techniques and hand crocheting for knitwear which can span days and contribute to one-of-a-kind merchandise.
Michela Moscatelli, a "rammendatrice"— Italian for mender — explains her job role in the next video. Ms. Moscatelli calls her workplace “a place of pride” and is seen hand sewing a playful image onto a sweater.
In another vignette, Matteo Fagiolo, a "maglierista"— knitter, in Italian — and former attendee of the Prada Acade
