Diego Della Valle, founder and chairman of the Italian luxury group Tod’s, said on Friday that investigations into Italy’s fashion supply chain risk damaging the country’s global reputation for top brands and quality products. Italian prosecutors are seeking to place the shoemaker under judicial administration over alleged labour abuses among its suppliers.

“Made in Italy’ represents one of our country’s areas of excellence and… if someone questions it (even) slightly, this causes enormous damage,” Della Valle said at a press conference in Milan. “Made in Italy” is the term used in the country as shorthand for Italian exports and quality goods.

The entrepreneur asked for laws that provide “Italian regulatory bodies with all the tools needed to carry out thorough inspections, while also allowing us (brands) to work without being judged on the basis of often completely unfounded accusations.”

Prosecutors allege Tod’s “culpably failed” to adequately oversee its suppliers, including two contracted directly, in order to pursue higher profits. The company – which is not under investigation – said that it complies with the law.

Five other luxury brands have already been put under judicial administration for similar reasons in Italy since the start of last year. Della Valle stressed that the probes involve a small number of cases compared to the many companies that respect the rules.

Brands that operate in Italy often use suppliers who in turn subcontract the work to other companies. Monitoring the entire supply chain “is not possible”, Della Valle said.