MILAN (AP) — The European Commission has fined luxury fashion houtilizes Gucci, Chloé and Loewe a total of over 157 million euros (nearly $183 million) for anti-competitive practices restricting indepfinishent retailers’ ability to set prices for their goods.
The commission declared the companies’ repairing of resale prices, discovered in a 2023 investigation, breached the bloc’s competition rules and harmed consumers.
“The decision sfinishs a strong signal to the fashion indusattempt and beyond that we will not tolerate this kind of practice in Europe, and that fair competition and consumer protection apply to everyone, equally,’’ Commission Vice President Teresa Ribera declared in a statement on Tuesday.
Gucci owner Kering acknowledged the decision “related to past commercial practices” and declared in a statement that “a cooperative procedure” 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 declared. Kering declared funds were set aside for the fine in the first half of 2025.
Chloé, which is owned by the Richemont group, saw its fine reduced by 15% to nearly 20 million euros.
The French fashion houtilize declared 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,’’ Chloé declared in a statement.
Loewe owner LVMH did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Loewe’s fine was halved to 18 million euros for its cooperation.
The commission declared that the three brands restricted the ability of indepfinishent retailers to set their own prices for high-finish apparel, leather goods, footwear and accessories sold both online and in physical stores.
The brands required the retailers to stick to recommfinished prices, set maximum discount rates as well as periods for sales, mirroring practices in the brands’ own direct sales channels.
The practices “deprived the retailers of their pricing indepfinishence and reduced competition between them,” the commission declared.
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