Luxury Titans Loewe, Gucci, and Chloé Hit with $157 Million Fine Over Price Controls

The European Commission has fined European luxury fashion brands Loewe (LVMH), Gucci (Kering) and Chloé (Richemont) €157 million for anti-competitive practices and for their coordination in imposing minimum selling prices on retailers that market their products and preventing them from applying discounts.

“Europeans have the right to benefit from genuine price competition whatever they buy and wherever they buy it,“ warned European Commission Vice-President and Competition Commissioner Teresa Ribera, who sees in this sanction a “strong message” to the fashion industry that EU rules apply to all equally.

The institution accuses them of having imposed restrictions on retailers whereby they could not deviate from the minimum recommended price either in their physical or online sales. Nor could they apply discounts other than those set by the brands or offer sale periods.

Gucci received the highest penalty among the three firms, amounting to €119.6 million

The European Commission initiated the investigation in 2023, the year in which the three luxury brands ceased the illegal practices they were carrying out since 2015 in the case of Loewe and Gucci and 2019 in the case of Chloé. Cooperation with the community services allowed the three brands a reduction in the fine.

The highest penalty was €119.6 million for Gucci, owned by Kering, followed by €19.6 million imposed on Chloé, which belongs to the Richemont group, and €18 million for Loewe, owned by the LVMH group. The Commission granted a 50% reduction to the Italian and Italian firms, while the French firm’s fine was cut by 15%.