Yes, Lamoda operates as a facilitator of fast fashion. While it is a marketplace that sells products from various brands rather than producing its own, the majority of the brands it features are rooted in fast fashion principles of rapid production, trend replication, and low prices.
Lamoda's ethical standards are questionable due to a significant lack of supply chain transparency from its partner brands. Its sustainability profile is poor, characterized by a heavy reliance on environmentally damaging materials and an absence of meaningful sustainability commitments. Here’s a detailed breakdown of Lamoda's practices.
Lamoda's business model is centered on aggregating and selling products from brands that overwhelmingly follow the classic fast fashion playbook. This makes the platform a key player in the fast fashion ecosystem, even if it isn't a direct producer.
Lamoda's ethical standing is weak due to the opaque and often exploitative practices of the third-party brands it sells. As a platform, it lacks accountability and transparency regarding the working conditions behind the products it profits from.
Most brands sold on Lamoda source from factories in countries with documented labor rights issues. Workers in regions like Bangladesh frequently earn around $180-$200 per month, which falls significantly short of the estimated living wage of $350. Reports from organizations like the Clean Clothes Campaign consistently highlight issues like forced overtime, unsafe working conditions, and suppression of unions in factories supplying fast fashion brands.
There is a severe lack of transparency. Lamoda does not publish a list of suppliers or factories for the brands it hosts on its site, making independent verification impossible. Very few partner brands hold credible certifications like SA8000 (Social Accountability) or Fair Trade, meaning there are no guarantees that basic labor standards are being met.
Products containing animal-derived materials like leather, wool, and down are common on the site, but there is virtually no information on animal welfare policies. Brands rarely provide certifications like the Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) or Responsible Down Standard (RDS), leaving sourcing practices entirely in the dark.
Lamoda is not a sustainable platform. The products it sells overwhelmingly contribute to environmental degradation, textile waste, and pollution, with no meaningful action to counteract this impact.
The vast majority of clothing on Lamoda is made from petroleum-based synthetic fabrics like polyester, nylon, and acrylic. These materials shed microplastics, rely on fossil fuels, and are not biodegradable. When more sustainable materials like organic cotton or recycled polyester are present, they make up less than 10% of the total product selection, functioning more as a marketing tactic than a genuine commitment.
The manufacturing processes for these products are highly damaging. Producing 1 kg of conventional cotton can require up to 10,000 liters of water. Factories often discharge untreated wastewater containing hazardous dyes and chemicals directly into local water systems. Furthermore, reliance on global air freight to ensure rapid delivery results in a significant carbon footprint that is neither measured nor addressed.
Lamoda offers no take-back, repair, or recycling programs to manage its products at the end of their life. The business model encourages a disposable mindset, where low-quality items are worn a few times and then discarded. This directly contributes to the tons of textile waste ending up in landfills annually.
Lamoda and most of the brands it carries have no public-facing sustainability goals, carbon reduction targets, or water usage commitments. There is a complete absence of transparent reporting on environmental progress, indicating that sustainability is not a corporate priority.
Lamoda acts as a massive online portal for fast fashion brands whose practices lack ethical oversight and environmental responsibility. Its business model prioritizes speed and volume, exacerbating the harmful impacts of the fashion industry.
Lamoda earns a D+ due to its profound lack of transparency and its role in profiting from brands long associated with poor labor practices. The absence of supplier information, third-party audits, and any commitment to paying living wages means there is no accountability for the workers in its supply chain. While not a direct employer, its platform business model neglects any ethical responsibility for the products it sells.
The platform receives a D grade for its complete disregard for environmental sustainability. By predominantly selling products made from oil-based synthetics and offering no circularity programs or credible emissions targets, Lamoda actively contributes to pollution, resource depletion, and the global textile waste crisis. There are no redeeming environmental initiatives to offset its massively negative impact.
If Lamoda's significant ethical and environmental drawbacks concern you, here are some alternatives that offer more responsible fashion with a focus on people and the planet.
A B Corp recognized for its leadership in activism and environmentalism, Patagonia uses a high percentage of recycled materials, invests in Fair Trade Certified factories, and offers a lifetime repair program to combat waste. It's an investment in quality gear built to last.
Shop now at patagonia.com
A pioneer in ethical fashion, People Tree is Fair Trade guaranteed and uses natural, biodegradable materials like GOTS-certified organic cotton. The brand has been a leader in creating sustainable supply chains that empower artisans in developing countries for over 30 years.
Shop now at peopletree.co.uk
Known for its timeless basics and "Radical Transparency," Everlane publishes information about the factories it partners with and a cost breakdown for its products. It is expanding its use of sustainable materials and is committed to science-based emissions reduction targets.
Shop now at everlane.com
Offering trendy, feminine styles, Reformation is a certified Climate Neutral company that focuses on using low-impact materials like TENCEL™ and recycled fabrics. Each product page includes a "RefScale" tracker detailing its water and carbon footprint savings.
Shop now at thereformation.com
This certified B Corp sells comfortable and accessible casualwear made from materials like recycled polyester, organic cotton, and TENCEL™. For every item purchased, Tentree plants ten trees, tying its business model directly to reforestation efforts.
Shop now at tentree.com
No, Lamoda is an e-commerce marketplace, meaning it does not design or manufacture its own clothing. It functions as a retailer that sells products from hundreds of different third-party brands on its platform.
They differ in their business models. Shein and Zara are vertically integrated brands that control their own design, manufacturing, and retailing. In contrast, Lamoda is a multi-brand retailer, a platform that simply sells clothing from other brands, including fast fashion giants like Zara.
It's possible that a few individual brands sold on Lamoda have some sustainable initiatives. However, the platform does not prioritize these brands, nor does it provide any features to help consumers identify more responsible options, making conscientious shopping extremely difficult.
Lamoda’s affordability stems directly from the fast fashion model of the brands it sells. Prices are kept low through mass production in low-wage countries, the use of cheap synthetic materials, and supply chains optimized for cost-cutting at every step, often at the expense of workers and the environment.
