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The SMCP group, which owns the Sandro, Maje and Claudie Pierlot brands, has just announced the departure of its managing director Daniel Lalonde. If the textile giant says that his resignation has “nothing to do” with the scandal of the Uyghurs, the group is nevertheless facing a crisis. In early July, the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation targeting him for “concealing a crime against humanity”.
Leading fashion brands are facing a French probe over allegations they profited from exploiting forced labor in the Chinese Uyghur community to manufacture their products. A French prosecutor’s office started the investigation last month looking at accusations that Claudie Pierlot parent SMCP SA, Zara owner Inditex SA, Skechers and Uniqlo profited from human rights crimes against the Muslim ethnic group, according to an official from the French Prosecution Office.
French prosecutors have opened an investigation into four multinational fashion retailers on suspicion of concealing and profiting from crimes against humanity in China’s Xinjiang region by sourcing goods produced using forced Uyghur labour. Judicial sources confirmed to French media on Friday the investigation concerned Uniqlo France, owned by Fast Retailing; Inditex, which owns Zara and Bershka; SMCP, the owner of the French fashion labels Sandro and Maje; and the footwear company Skechers.