A senior manager at Prada is suing the fashion label claiming that she was ordered to get rid of "old, fat and ugly" staff in the Italian fashion label's Japanese stores.
Rina Bovrisse, a senior retail manager at Prada Japan, also alleges that the chief executive wanted her to change her hairstyle and lose weight in order to fit into the company.
Ms Bovrisse, who oversaw 500 staff in 40 stores across Japan, has launched a discrimination and harassment case against the Italian fashion label in Tokyo's industrial tribunal courts.
Her allegations focus on an incident in May last year when she claims that Davide Sesia, the CEO of Prada Japan, allegedly asked her to "eliminate" around 15 managerial staff he described as "old, fat, ugly, disgusting or not having the Prada look," following a tour of 40 stores.
Immediately after his demands, human resources reportedly notified 13 members of staff with devotional transfer orders due to poor sales, according to Ms Bovrisse, who disclosed details of the case in a Japan Times interview.
Ms Bovrisse alleges that she herself was later summoned to a meeting and informed that Mr Sesia reportedly wanted her to "change her hairstyle, to lose weight" because he was "ashamed of Ms Bovrisse's ugliness, so he doesn't want visitors from Italy to see her".
Ms Bovrisse, who has 18 years experience working in the international fashion industry, was placed on involuntary leave last November and launched her legal case the following month.
Describing why she had launched the claim, Ms Bovrisse said: "My responsibility is to protect hard-working women and make sure their working environment is safe."
A spokeswoman at Prada's Tokyo headquarters told The Daily Telegraph that the company was currently unable to comment.
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