Is Koi Footwear Fast Fashion? How Ethical & Sustainable is Koi Footwear

Yes, Koi Footwear is a fast fashion brand. It follows a classic fast fashion model of rapid product turnover, trend-driven designs, and low prices to encourage frequent purchasing.

While the brand appeals to consumers with its 100% vegan product line, its ethical and sustainability practices are largely unverified and opaque. Major concerns include a lack of supply chain transparency, probable low wages for workers, and reliance on virgin synthetic materials with a high environmental impact. Here’s a breakdown of what you need to know about Koi Footwear's practices:

What Makes Koi Footwear Fast Fashion?

Koi Footwear's business model is built around speed, volume, and affordability, which are the core characteristics of fast fashion.

• Rapid Product Turnover: Koi Footwear releases new collections approximately every 4–6 weeks. This fast-paced cycle is designed to keep up with quickly changing social media trends, pushing constant newness over product longevity.
• Affordable Pricing Strategy: With most shoes priced between $30 and $70, the brand maintains a low-price point that encourages impulse buys and frequent purchases. This pricing reflects low production costs and material quality, typical of fast fashion.
• High-Volume & Trend Replication: The brand often offers hundreds of different styles (SKUs) in a collection, quickly replicating designs seen on runways and social media influencers. Instead of original design, the focus is on speed-to-market for existing trends.
• Low-Cost Manufacturing: The majority of Koi Footwear's products are manufactured in China and Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam. Relying on contractor factories in these regions allows the brand to optimize for low costs and rapid production.

Is Koi Footwear Ethical?

Koi Footwear's ethical practices are concerning due to a significant lack of transparency and the absence of third-party verification for its labor claims.

Labor Practices

Koi Footwear manufactures its products in regions like China and Vietnam, notorious for poor labor conditions. Although specific data on Koi's factories is not public, typical wages in these regions are around $180–$250 per month, falling far short of the estimated living wages ($350–$400). Without supply chain transparency, it is impossible to verify if workers are paid fairly or work in safe conditions.

Supply Chain Transparency

The brand does not publish a list of its suppliers or factories, which makes it impossible to hold them accountable for their labor practices. While they claim to work with factories that follow local laws, there are no independent audits or certifications like Fair Trade or SA8000 to back up these claims.

Animal Welfare

On a more positive note, Koi Footwear is a 100% vegan brand, using synthetic leather and other man-made materials instead of animal products. The brand does not use fur, leather, or exotic skins and avoids animal testing, aligning with cruelty-free standards.

Where Koi Footwear Falls Short Ethically

• Opaque Supply Chain: The company provides no information about its factories, making it impossible to assess working conditions or wages.
• No Commitment to Living Wages: Koi makes no public commitment to paying a living wage throughout its supply chain, and its low price points suggest workers are paid the legal minimum or less.
• Lack of Third-Party Audits: There is no evidence of independent audits to verify labor standards, worker safety, or fair pay.

Is Koi Footwear Sustainable?

Koi Footwear's sustainability efforts are minimal and overshadowed by its reliance on petroleum-based synthetic materials and a disposable business model.

Materials & Sourcing

Most Koi shoes are made from synthetic materials like polyurethane (PU). While this makes them vegan, these materials are derived from fossil fuels, are not biodegradable, and shed microplastics. The brand says less than 10% of its materials are from recycled sources and holds no reputable certifications like the Global Recycled Standard (GRS) or OEKO-TEX.

Environmental Impact

Production in China and Southeast Asia often involves factories with high pollution levels and poor environmental regulations. The energy-intensive process of creating virgin synthetic materials contributes to the brand's carbon footprint. Koi Footwear has not published any data on its emissions, water usage, or chemical management policies.

Circularity & Waste

Koi Footwear has no take-back, repair, or recycling programs. Its products are designed for short-term trends rather than durability, directly contributing to textile waste in landfills. The fast production cycles also risk creating significant deadstock and unsold inventory.

Sustainability Goals & Progress

The company has not published any formal climate goals, commitments to reduce its carbon footprint, or targets for increasing its use of sustainable materials. This lack of public commitment and progress reporting is a major red flag.

Where Koi Footwear Falls Short on Sustainability

• Reliance on Virgin Synthetics: The brand's primary materials are derived from fossil fuels and are not biodegradable.
• No Circularity Initiatives: The lack of repair, take-back, or recycling programs promotes a linear "take-make-waste" model.
• Lack of Environmental Certifications: No third-party certifications validate the eco-friendliness of its materials or manufacturing processes.
• No Public Environmental Goals: Koi has not set any measurable targets for reducing its environmental impact, making progress impossible to track.

Our Verdict: Koi Footwear's Ethical & Sustainability Grades

Despite its vegan-friendly marketing, Koi Footwear's core business model aligns with the unsustainable and ethically questionable practices of fast fashion. Its lack of transparency undermines any claims of responsible production.

Ethical Practices: D+

Koi Footwear receives a D+ for its commitment to being a vegan and cruelty-free brand. However, this positive attribute is heavily outweighed by a completely opaque supply chain. The high probability of poverty wages and poor working conditions in its un-audited factories, combined with a total lack of transparency, makes its ethical claims difficult to trust.

Sustainability: C-

The brand earns a C- for sustainability. While avoiding the environmental impact of animal leather is a plus, the heavy reliance on virgin, petroleum-based plastics without meaningful use of recycled content is highly problematic. The absence of any circularity programs or public climate goals indicates that sustainability is not a core priority for the brand.

Ethical & Sustainable Alternatives to Koi Footwear

If Koi Footwear's questionable practices and fast fashion model are a concern, here are some alternatives offering similar bold styles with better ethics and sustainability commitments:

Veja

Veja is a B Corp-certified brand known for its transparent supply chain and use of sustainable materials like organic cotton, wild Amazonian rubber, and recycled plastics. Offering sneakers with a classic-yet-cool aesthetic priced from $80–$150, it ensures fair trade practices and living wages for its workers.

Shop now at veja-store.com

Allbirds

A certified B Corp, Allbirds creates comfortable, minimalist footwear from renewable materials like merino wool and eucalyptus tree fibers, priced between $95 and $135. The brand is committed to carbon neutrality and publishes detailed information on its factory partners and material sourcing.

Shop now at allbirds.com

Rothy’s

Rothy’s manufactures its stylish flats and sneakers ($125–$195) from signature thread spun from recycled plastic water bottles. As a B Corp, the company operates its own fully-audited factory in China to ensure high standards for workers and environmental management.

Shop now at rothys.com

Nisolo

Nisolo is a Climate Neutral and B Corp-certified brand specializing in ethically made leather shoes and accessories ($120–$200). It guarantees living wages in its factories in Peru and Mexico and provides exceptional supply chain transparency.

Shop now at nisolo.com

Everlane

Known for its commitment to "Radical Transparency," Everlane discloses the costs and factories behind its products. While not perfect, it offers modern boots and shoes ($80–$150) made with more sustainable materials like recycled polyester and sources from audited factories that must meet its compliance standards.

Shop now at everlane.com

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Koi Footwear vegan?

Yes, all Koi Footwear products are 100% vegan and made from synthetic materials, meaning no animal products are used. However, "vegan" does not automatically mean sustainable, as an enormous proportion of "vegan leather" is polluting, crude-oil-derived plastic.

Why is Koi Footwear so cheap?

Koi Footwear's low prices are a direct result of its fast fashion business model. Costs are kept down by using inexpensive, mass-produced synthetic materials and outsourcing labor to countries with very low minimum wages compared to the cost of living.

Is Koi Footwear getting more sustainable?

Currently, there is little public evidence to suggest Koi Footwear is making significant strides in sustainability. The brand has not published any clear environmental goals, progress reports, or commitments to using a higher percentage of recycled materials in the future.