Early sales, it's controversial: the complete calendar

Although there are precise regulations on the starting dates of sales , discounts on clothing possible twice a year, the associations of retailers report that many online stores, but also some physical ones, start early , violating the established regional rules.

A practice that would further complicate the historic shops in city centers, which are increasingly in difficulty due to competition from online stores . Meanwhile, the big fashion brands are warning against possible scams.

2025 Sales Early, When They Really Start

The issue of early sales varies from region to region . The official start date of summer discounts on clothing, July 5 , has several exceptions depending on the various local regulations that determine when promotions can begin to be applied. The regions that are exceptions are:

• Sicily, July 1st;
• Tuscany, July 6;
• Autonomous Province of Trento, no date set;
• Autonomous Province of Bolzano, July 16.

The length of the sales period can also vary. In most regions, the discounts will last 45 days, in Liguria 60. Piedmont has a more flexible regulation, but puts a cap on the sales period of 8 weeks. However, there are several cases in which stores, especially online ones, find strategies to start early .

Early sales are often called something else, using names like “ special promotion ” or reserving the discounts for so-called “top customers” who have signed up for a loyalty card.

Protests from industry associations

However, the phenomenon is putting in difficulty the historic stores, which respect the dates also for their exhibition but which have been in difficulty for years. On average, in Italy, 18 physical clothing stores close every day, which cannot withstand the competition of online stores and, more recently, of Chinese e-commerce .

Valter Gianmaria , president of Confesercenti Roma, instead asks for the return of the food inspectors, who check the physical stores before the sales dates, but also recalls the competitive advantage of online platforms:

In addition to this illegal discount, our sector is attacked by 10 global platforms on the web , such as Amazon, which can afford to make continuous promotions because they have a 15% tax rate while we, between taxes and contributions, are at 60%.

Scam Alerts

Another warning about sales comes from the big fashion and luxury houses. Brands like Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Chanel and Gucci have been keen to remind, in their stores and on their websites, that it is not company policy to apply discounts of any kind, not even during the sales season.

Luxury brands point out that finding a designer product on sale means, in all likelihood, buying a fake. “The idea of ​​being able to buy one of our bags online on sale , in the hope of securing the famous quality of the brand at a discounted price, is as tempting as it is unrealistic,” says the Louis Vuitton website.

Summer sales 2025, when do they start?

Summer Sale 2025

Regions	Sale start date
Abruzzo	July 5th
Basilicata	July 5th
Calabria	from July 5th to September 4th
Campania	July 5th
Emilia-Romagna	July 5th
Friuli-Venezia Giulia	from July 5th to September 3rd
Lazio	July 5th
Liguria	from July 5th to August 18th
Lombardy	July 5th
Marche	from July 5th to September 1st
Molise	July 5th
Piedmont	July 5th
Apulia	from July 5th to September 15th
Sardinia	July 5th
Sicily	from July 5th to September 15th
Tuscany	July 5th
Umbria	July 5th
Aosta Valley	July 5th
Veneto	from July 5th to August 31st
Autonomous Province of Bolzano	from 16 July to 13 August in the districts of Bolzano, Merano, Valle Isarco, Val Pusteria, Val Venosta from 22nd August to 19th September in the municipalities of Stelvio, Resia, Maso Corto and S. Valentino alla Muta, Marebbe, San Martino in Badia, La Valle, Badia, Corvara, Renon, Tires, Castelrotto, Ortisei, S. Cristina, Selva Gardena
Autonomous Province of Trento	for 60 days, merchants are free to determine the periods in which to make sales