Letter: France in Turmoil

Photo by Pierre-Louis Mièze on Unsplash

As part of its coverage of the recent protests in France, the Financial Times posted a report from Paris on October 21 describing the targeting of luxury fashion-house stores by leftist protesters in the city.

In that report; 'Apple, Hermes and Louis Vuitton among luxury shops hit' - the President of the Confederation of French Traders, Pierre Bosche is quoted as saying that "behind every smashed storefront there is an entrepreneur, employees, families and often years of hard work".

Drawing the world's attention to workers in the luxury fashion industry is perhaps not the most judicious comment M. Bosche has ever made.

Let me remind M Bosche that behind many of these "storefronts" are also lives smashed by hazardous, brutalist and illegal dormitory-sweatshops in both Europe and Asia. Serial reports from across the industry detail the exploitation of child, forced and undocumented labour.

In January 2026 the FT reported that during an investigation into labour abuses in the industry, prosecutors in Italy had filed court documents saying they had uncovered a system of exploitation "so entrenched and proven that it could be considered part of a broader business policy exclusively aimed at increasing profit".

Whilst our culture and business practice ascribes a greater value to a handbag than to human dignity, there will always be turmoil, protest and "smashed store fronts".

I do not endorse criminality or violence, but would invite M Bosche to reflect.

Sincerely,

Craig RA Hesketh
(A former trade union official, Greater Manchester)