Is LL Bean Ethical or Fast Fashion? (2026 Update)
According to most sources, L.L. Bean is not ethical. This conclusion is because of a lack of evidence of action to reduce climate impacts.
The American retail company focuses on selling outdoor recreation equipment and apparel. It was founded in 1912 by Leon Leonwood Bean and is based in Freeport, Maine.
Previously we noted that L.L. Bean failed to ethically source its products. We mentioned them not having a code of conduct for its manufacturers. We also noted that most of its production comes from Chinese factories with underpaid workers. Here’s our update:
Is LL Bean Ethical?
On L.L. Bean’s website, they’ve provided a list of the factories that they use to make their products. They assert that they’ve all been vetted to make sure they meet high standards when it comes to human rights and environmental impact.
The company has a forced labor policy to prohibit their products from being made with forced labor. In adherence to this policy, they chose to end production in Xinjiang and no longer use Chinese cotton.
The company appears to have taken more steps to improve its code of conduct. We haven’t found a recent score on L.L. Bean from The Fashion Transparency Index, but in 2023 they were given a score of 8%.
This failure was because L.L. Bean could not provide any evidence of specific ethical standards the company enforced in its production and supply. To our knowledge, L.L. bean is not Fair Trade certified. Their website also does not seem to have employee feedback from these factories.
Is L.L. Bean Fast Fashion?
While L.L. Bean has many ethical shortcomings, it is not a fast fashion brand. Fast fashion is generally categorized as quickly made clothes created for a very short lifetime to cater to rapidly changing trends.
L.L. Bean’s market is quite different. It caters to athletic individuals who enjoy adventuring outdoors, and most of its clothes are designed for high-stress situations outdoors.
Does L.L. Bean Claim to Be Sustainable?
Like many manufacturers, L.L. Bean says that it tries to be sustainable and ethical in its production. They note that they’ve eliminated PFAS in manufacturing and use 100% Responsible Down. However, it provides very little evidence for its operations and how it checks to ensure things are running correctly.
Nonetheless, there have been recent criticisms against the company. A standout was held at the headquarters of L.L. Bean. The participants wanted L.L. Bean stop it’s partnership with CitiBank. Citibank is a known funder of new fossil fuel extraction.
What’s the History of L.L. Bean?
L.L. Bean is a privately owned company based in the United States. It is a large-scale seller of adventure gear, athleisure, and outdoor clothes and equipment. This company is not a young start-up. It has been around for 110 years, starting with its Maine Hunting Shoes, now more popularly called Bean Boots.
Currently, it is valued as a billion-dollar company with an international presence. The company claims its products are so expensive because they provide high value. The company says their workers put much effort into making the products as durable as possible to resist strident outdoor conditions.
To this day, L.L. Bean is a family-owned business. Leon Bean’s great-grandson Shawn Gorman is the current Chairman, with Steve Smith serving as President and CEO. Despite the global pandemic, 2021 was a fantastic year for the company, and it raked in almost 2 billion dollars in net revenue.
Where are L.L. Bean Stores Located?
The headquarters of this company is located in Freeport, Maine, but there are retail stores across the United States. Even as the company is focused on expanding into the online business space, they still have facilities in nineteen states nationwide. Locations include Maine, Colorado, Illinois, Connecticut, Michigan, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Kansas, and others. As for its location abroad, L.L. Bean has eight stores in Canada and twenty-four in Japan.
Where are L.L. Bean Factories Located?
Most of its branches in Maine are located in Brunswick and Lewiston. They have hundreds of employees, and most factories are dedicated to making Bean Boots. There are also factories abroad in countries like Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, and more. For a full list of production companies, Panaprium has an excellent summary here.
How Does L.L. Bean Handle Shipping?
Most local orders in the United States ship from the closest L.L. Bean retail store to save cost, but international orders come from L.L. Bean’s headquarters in Freeport, Maine. This building can store approximately 10 million units of product.
What Type of Labor Does L.L. Bean Use?
While L.L. Bean claims it uses fair and ethical labor, previous reports mentioned that L.L. Bean profited off the slave labor of ethnic minorities in Chinese factories.
Does L.L. Bean Consider Animal Welfare?
Unfortunately, L.L. Bean’s animal welfare policies are similarly poor. While they use downs certified by the Responsible Down standard, they also use wool, leather, and other animal fibers that don’t appear to hvave been similarly certified.
How Sustainable is L.L. Bean?
Like many older companies, L.L. Bean had little to no consideration towards sustainability when it started. However, as the public has become more aware, L.L. Bean has shifted to more sustainable practices and adopted more corporate social responsibility initiatives.
L.L. Bean is a member of well-known sustainability organizations like The Sustainable Apparel Coalition, Textile Exchange, and OEKO-TEX Standard 100. It has committed to cut its greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2025 and adopt even more sustainability practices.
Right now, it uses 23% responsible cotton, 18% recycled polyester, and 14% recycled nylon for its outdoor apparel. Part of its 2025 sustainability goal is to increase these percentages to 100.
Overall, L.L. Bean appears to have made some progress in their ethical labor practices. It’s up to consumers, activists and reporters to continue to ask questions about their policies to ensure they continue making improvements.
Related: Is Demonia Ethical or Fast Fashion?
