MILAN (AP) ā The European Commission has fined luxury fashion houses Gucci, ChloĆ© and Loewe a total of over 157 million euros (nearly $183 million) for anti-competitive practices restricting independent retailers' ability to set prices for their goods.
The commission said the companies' fixing of resale prices, discovered in a 2023 investigation, breached the bloc's competition rules and harmed consumers.
āThe decision sends a strong signal to the fashion industry and beyond that we will not tolerate this kind of practice in Europe, and that fair competition and consumer protection apply to everyone, equally,āā Commission Vice President Teresa Ribera said in a statement on Tuesday.
Gucci owner Kering acknowledged the decision ārelated to past commercial practicesā and said in a statement that āa cooperative procedureā allowed for a swifter resolution of the case. Gucci's fine was cut in half to nearly 120 million euros for its cooperation revealing additional breaches, the commission said. Kering said funds were set aside for the fine in the first half of 2025.
ChloƩ, which is owned by the Richemont group, saw its fine reduced by 15% to nearly 20 million euros.
The French fashion house said in a statement that since the 2023 investigation it had reinforced its compliance training and adopted enhanced measures to ensure "strict" adherence to competition law, including annual training and reports.
"We take this matter extremely seriously and acted with the utmost diligence to address it,'' ChloƩ said in a statement.
Loewe owner LVMH did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Loeweās fine was halved to 18 million euros for its cooperation.
The commission said that the three brands restricted the ability of independent retailers to set their own prices for high-end apparel, leather goods, footwear and accessories sold both online and in physical stores.
The brands required the retailers to stick to recommended prices, set maximum discount rates as well as periods for sales, mirroring practices in the brandsā own direct sales channels.
The practices "deprived the retailers of their pricing independence and reduced competition between them,ā the commission said.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.