Venice Forum Maps Fashion's Next Frontiers: Compliance, AI, Space

Milan prosecutors have examined 30 to 40 fashion companies since January 2024, and on Friday a Florence Court placed brands Dixie and Patrizia Pepe under judicial administration over alleged worker exploitation by Albanian-owned subcontractors. The rulings framed the fifth Venice Sustainable Fashion Forum, held over two days at the Fondazione Cini and organized by Confindustria Moda and Confindustria Veneto Est.

Prosecutor Paolo Storari, who led most investigations linking luxury brands including Giorgio Armani, Dior, Loro Piana and Tod's to sweatshop schemes since the first case against Alviero Martini, was uncompromising.

"We need to stop being bystanders to injustice," he said. "We need to move beyond the logic of 'buy wherever it's cheapest.'"

What legal risk now means for brands?

Storari warned that companies claiming clean supply chains face potential commercial fraud charges if investigations prove otherwise. Buying products made with illegal labor may constitute receiving stolen goods, he said. His proposed rule book for brands includes:

• Assessing subcontractors' production capacity
• Verifying beneficial ownership and collective labor agreement compliance
• Conducting unannounced audits
• Requesting access to tax records
• Including termination clauses in contracts

He dismissed industry compliance certifications as useful. That drew pushback. "I don't like hearing that certification systems are useless. They serve a purpose. But we need a system that rewards companies for using them," said Maurizio Bortolotto, founding partner of Gebbia Bortolotto Penalisti Associati, calling extra documentation demands "cosmetic compliance." He also objected to owners effectively becoming law enforcement.

A voluntary certification bill for fashion value chains stalled in the Lower House Commission at the end of 2025, despite backing from Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, Confindustria Moda and Minister Adolfo Urso.

"We shouldn't penalize our supply chain or keep indulging in Italy's tendency to beat itself up," said CNMI chairman Carlo Capasa, warning of deindustrialization risk. Oniverse president Sandro Veronesi, whose Intimissimi and Calzedonia have never been investigated, questioned whether hard-line enforcement creates inflexibility.

What did the Ambrosetti study find?

TEHA Group's "Just Fashion Transition 2026" study reported that Made in Italy no longer guarantees responsibility, regulations are changing unevenly, and technology adoption cannot reach scale for lack of funding — with smaller value-chain players expected to shoulder innovation costs.

"We're living through an era of profound, systemic disruption," said Carlo Cici, partner and head of sustainability practice at The European House Ambrosetti. "If we don't address these issues, the consequences won't be limited to us; they'll affect the entire global supply chains that depends on us," said Confindustria Moda president Luca Sburlati.

How are brands decarbonizing the supply chain?

Fashion Pact members — over 55 signatories including Kering, Prada, Chanel, Zegna, Ferragamo, H&M and Inditex — launched phase two of the European Accelerator, a supply chain decarbonization project. The Decarbonization Accelerator Framework builds on last year's open-source self-assessment survey with an implementation playbook and supplier case studies, including a Como silk-district pilot for a group energy-purchase agreement.

"Most brands have largely eliminated their Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, while Scope 3 remains a challenge and accounts for 70 percent of their emissions," said Salvatore Ferragamo sustainability senior director Davide Triacca. Kering head of sustainable supply chain Mickaël Maniez said the framework defines supplier maturity and brand expectations, with several players already aligned.

Last May, Italy's Camera della Moda and France's FHCM unveiled a joint ESG harmonization framework to cut "supplier fatigue" from duplicative audits. "In the knowledge economy what is not measured does not exist," said FHCM executive president Pascal Morand.

What regulatory and competitive pressures loom?

Under the EU's Ecodesign regulation, the Digital Product Passport delegated act for fashion is expected in Q4 2027, with an 18-month compliance window making 2029 the earliest enforcement date. Euratex president Mario Jorge Machado cited a €1 billion daily EU trade deficit with China and demanded reciprocity. "We're not asking for protectionism, but for reciprocity — with no shortcuts for those who don't follow the rules," said Sburlati.

Are AI and space realistic frontiers?

"Italy's productivity has remained stagnant since the advent of the internet," said Politecnico di Torino professor Emilio Paolucci. Politecnico di Milano deputy dean Giuliano Noci urged investment in industrial AI guiding manufacturing. Concrete use cases remain pilot-stage, largely at academic institutions and start-ups such as Spin.

The space economy will generate $1.5 trillion to $1.8 trillion by 2035, per the World Economic Forum and McKinsey. Prada's Axiom Space partnership, started in October 2023, produced the AxEMU outer layer and a Liquid Cooling and Ventilation Garment slated for the Artemis IV lunar mission — a template that National Aerospace Technology Cluster president Cristina Leone says works both ways, spinning aerospace technology into fashion.