Is Demonia Ethical or Fast Fashion?
Wondering if the store Demonia is ethical? Wonder no more; this article will summarize what record Demonia has in terms of ethical practices. Demonia’s tagline is “Defining Alternative Footwear,” and it is an online retailer that specializes in providing footwear for alternative subcultures.
It is the only official domestic and international retailer for Demonia, which is what the shoes are called. This company is based in Southern California and claims to innovate new styles and redefine older ones. It has specialty shoes with names like Shaker-100s, Swing-815s, and Damned-318s. They claim their shoes are vegan.
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Is Demonia Ethical?
Despite its marketing campaign, Demonia shoes are not ethical. Their claim that they use vegan leather is difficult to believe because they do not offer certifications or verifications for this.
In the past, they have also partnered with brands like Dolls Kill and Killstar, which are notorious for unethical labor practices, poor customer service, and a negative environmental impact.
Selling vegan shoes helps tap into a big marketplace for consumers who feel using leather and other animal products is unethical. However, Demonia had a history of profiting off this claim with absolutely no verification.
Currently, as of 2023, their website does not seem to be promoting this fact at all, so it’s possible the backlash got too strong. However, Demonia is not transparent at all about its ethical code and its supply chain process.
It doesn’t list any of its certifications or even where specifically its products are produced and how they are shipped and sold. For a store to even attempt to be ethical, it needs to be completely transparent about how the product is made and what checks the company does to ensure everything is running fairly. Companies that do not have information on if they sell a fair price or provide a standard living wage to their employees are very sketchy.
The History of Demonia Shoes
Demonia got started in 1993 as an alternative footwear brand with a surprising range of edgy, gothic, and punk boots. These boots made a pretty serious cultural impact and developed a bit of a cult fanbase.
Many of their shoes are famous for being unique platform boots of all sorts of styles. Demonia has several sub-brands like Pleaser, Bordello, and Funtasma.
Why Do Demonia Shoes Have a Cult Status?
Unlike more mainstream brands, Demonia’s designs have a very distinct alternative, edgy style that appeals to people who like to go to raves and music festivals.
It markets to many different sub-cultures that all fall under a similar style, so it has a wide range for a niche audience. Many people who would not consider themselves punk, goth, or even alternative enjoy these shoes for their unique flair. Demonia also claimed to be a vegan store with ethical practices.
How Does Demonia Produce Their Shoes?
Recently, Demonia has heavily transitioned to outsourcing its manufacturing process to China. The problem with this is that many customers suspect this change is due to the looser labor laws and cheaper materials.
Unfortunately, a good number of production places in China are sweatshops and use forced labor. Demonia has very little transparency to show that its processing pipeline is ethical and has the appropriate labor checks.
Does Demonia Take Advantage of Child Labor?
Because Demonia is not transparent, we know nothing about its supply chain and only know that its products are outsourced to Chinese factories. Their website does not discuss labor conditions or a code of conduct.
It does not outline how these shoes are made, who makes them, or if they are paid fairly. While there are no outright accusations of child labor, it is very hard to believe that Demonia does not take advantage of child labor and other forms of forced labor in other countries because of the secrecy around its process.
In general, Demonia has faced several intense allegations of poor working conditions and mistreatment of employees in the past. Allegedly, the brand has made attempts to improve these practices, but they do not detail this process on their website.
Does Demonia Offer Cruelty-Free Products?
Unfortunately, Demonia does not offer cruelty-free products. In its past marketing for its shoes, Demonia claimed to be made with vegan leather. However, it did not provide any proof of this and what material it used instead.
It only has a small icon at the bottom of its product pages. For many consumers, animal cruelty is a hugely important consideration when they decide to support a brand. However, some of Demonia’s products do use materials like leather and suede, which many animal welfare activists denounce. Although the brand says many of its products are vegan, it is very difficult to be sure of this, and we have no idea to what level because there is not a specific certification that is promoted.
Does Demonia Promote Sustainability?
Likewise, Demonia does not seem to promote sustainability. It has released no details on its manufacturing process or its environmental impact. The materials they use are quite cheap, and they are not transparent about that either.
They rely on the vegan logo without providing any specific information that customers could use to verify their claims. Demonia has generally come under fire for their product’s poor quality and cheap materials.
Many customers argue that Demonia products are extremely overpriced when they do not provide long-lasting value. The website Good on You ranked Demonia “We Avoid” because they determined the company provided insufficient information about their processes regarding people, the Earth, and animals.
This rating absolutely makes sense because there is very little publicly accessible information about Demonia’s production and shipping practices and their environmental impact. Similar sites will produce plans to reduce their carbon footprint, and Demonia does not have something like this.
Is Demonia an Actual Company?
While it has many ethical issues, Demonia Cult is an actual company. Customers who order from this website do receive their products and are not scammed. In fact, this company is overall still quite popular because of the different styles of shoes they sell.
As mentioned earlier, though, the customer base has recently been complaining about the cheap shoe quality and having difficulty with customer service. Ultimately, it is up to each consumer to choose if they want to shop at Demonia.
While it’s likely that Demonia is not one of the worst companies out there, it is not transparent at all about its ethical code and its enforcement of that code. It has faced several serious allegations about its production and supply chain and provides little assurance that these issues are resolved.
Related: Is Dolls Kill Bad?
