The European Union has fined three leading luxury fashion houses; Gucci, Chloe, and Loewe a combined €157 million ($182 million) for colluding to fix resale prices across Europe.
The European Commission announced the penalties on Tuesday, following a series of surprise inspections in April 2023 and a formal antitrust probe launched in July 2024.
According to the Commission, the three companies restricted independent retailers from setting their own retail prices both online and in physical stores, behaviour that violated EU competition laws and unfairly inflated prices for consumers.
“This decision sends a strong signal to the fashion industry and beyond that we will not tolerate this kind of practice in Europe,” said EU antitrust commissioner Teresa Ribera.
The Commission said all three brands interfered with their retailers’ commercial strategies by limiting discount rates and setting specific sales periods. In some cases, retailers were temporarily banned from offering any discounts at all.
The investigation found that Gucci, Chloe, and Loewe acted independently of one another but engaged in similar restrictive practices over several years.
As a result, Kering-owned Gucci received the largest fine of €119.7 million for infringements committed between April 2015 and April 2023. Chloe, owned by Swiss luxury group Richemont, was fined €19.7 million for violations between December 2019 and April 2023, while Loewe, part of French luxury conglomerate LVMH, was ordered to pay €18 million for offences between December 2015 and April 2023.
The fines were reduced after all three brands admitted wrongdoing and cooperated with EU investigators.
In response, Gucci said it “acknowledges” the decision relating to its past commercial practices and confirmed that it had already made financial provisions for the fine in its 2025 accounts. “The exposure is entirely covered,” the company stated.
Loewe said it “reiterates its firm commitment to acting in strict compliance with competition law,” while Chloe noted that it had taken “the matter extremely seriously” and strengthened its internal compliance framework since the 2023 investigation.
“Since the 2023 investigation, we have reinforced our compliance framework with enhanced measures to ensure strict adherence to competition law,” Chloe said in its statement.
The European Commission said the decision reinforces its commitment to safeguarding fair competition in the luxury retail sector and ensuring that consumers are protected from anticompetitive pricing practices.