Maison Margiela (L’Oreal)

Last Updated: March 6, 2024

How Ethical Is Maison Margiela (L’Oreal)?

Make a positive impact by supporting companies with the same values and ethics as what matters most to you. To navigate and find ethical brands, here’s a summary of Maison Margiela's ethics and initiatives.

Ethical Analysis

Is Maison Margiela cruelty-free or vegan? We’ve got the answers here! Read below to learn more about Maison Margiela’s policies.
Maison Margiela is NOT Cruelty-Free. Maison Margiela engages in animal testing by allowing its products to be animal-tested.
Maison Margiela does not claim or market itself to offer any vegan-friendly options. And since Maison Margiela engages in animal testing, we wouldn’t consider anything sold or produced by Maison Margiela to be vegan anyways.

Maison Margiela (L’Oreal)

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Maison Margiela is NOT Cruelty-Free!

Maison Margiela allows its products to be tested on animals when required by law.

Maison Margiela’s Animal Testing Policy

While researching to learn more about Maison Margiela’s cruelty-free status, I couldn’t find the brand’s official animal testing policy anywhere on its website.

So I reached out to Maison Margiela to ask for more information about their animal testing policy. More specifically, I wanted to know if they commission or allow others to test their products/ingredients on animals, including when selling in countries that require animal testing (like in mainland China).

And Maison Margiela responded by saying:

“We thank you for taking the time to share your concerns with us. Maison Martin Margiela, a brand of the L’Oréal Group, does not test any of its products or any of its ingredients on animals and has been at the forefront of alternative methods for over 30 years. In 1989, L’Oréal completely ceased testing its products on animals, 14 years before it was required by regulation. Today, L’Oréal no longer tests its ingredients on animals. L’Oréal no longer tolerates any exception to this rule.”

Based on their response, it turns out that L’Oreal owns Maison Margiela Fragrances. And Maison Margiela has the same animal testing policy as L’Oreal.

But what’s not included in the response from Maison Margiela is that L’Oreal states in its full animal testing policy that L’Oreal allows its products to be tested on animals when required by law, specifically when selling in markets that require animal testing (like China).

“Certain health authorities may nevertheless decide to conduct animal tests themselves for certain cosmetic products, as it is still the case in China. L’Oréal is the most active company working alongside the Chinese authorities and scientists for over 10 years to have alternative testing methods recognized, and permit the cosmetic regulation to evolve towards a total and definite elimination of animal testing. Thanks to this, since 2014, certain products manufactured and sold in China like shampoo, body wash or certain make-up products are no longer tested on animals.”

Based on their statement, L’Oreal and Maison Margiela have the same animal testing policy where both state they make an exception to allow their products to be tested on animals if specifically required by law.

Truly cruelty-free brands will never allow their products or ingredients to be tested on animals. Cruelty-free companies have a policy where if the law requires them to test on animals then they will refuse to sell their products under those conditions.

Unfortunately, L’Oreal and Maison Margiela state they will allow their products and ingredients to be tested on animals if the law requires it. For those reasons, Maison Margiela is NOT cruelty-free.

Cruelty-Free Policies

At ethical elephant, we always assess a company’s cruelty-free policy using our Cruelty-Free Checklist. This ensures no animal testing was performed by the brand itself, its suppliers, or by any third parties, including when required by law.

See below for our complete cruelty-free checklist. Since Maison Margiela allows its products to be tested on animals when required by law, we cannot classify the brand as being cruelty-free.

Complete Cruelty-Free Checklist

Is Maison Margiela Certified Cruelty-Free?

Maison Margiela is not certified cruelty-free by any third-party cruelty-free certifications like Leaping Bunny or PETA.

Because Maison Margiela is not certified cruelty-free by a third party, no one is looking into or substantiating Maison Margiela’s cruelty-free commitments and claims.

Is Maison Margiela Owned By A Non-Cruelty-Free Parent Company?

Yes. Maison Margiela is owned by L’Oreal, a parent corporation that still engages in animal testing in 2022.

Some cruelty-free consumers may choose to purchase and support cruelty-free brands owned by animal-tested parent corporations as they hope it will convince the parent company to become cruelty-free.

But in this case, Maison Margiela is NOT cruelty-free and neither is its parent corporation, L’Oreal.

Is Maison Margiela Cruelty-Free?

To sum up, Maison Margiela has the same animal testing policy as its parent company, L’Oreal, and both companies allow their products to be tested on animals when required by law. Therefore, we would NOT consider Maison Margiela to be a cruelty-free brand.

Currently, Maison Margiela is on our List of Brands to Avoid – Animal Tested.

Is Maison Margiela Vegan?

Maison Margiela does not claim or market itself to offer any vegan-friendly options. And since Maison Margiela engages in animal testing, we wouldn’t consider anything sold or produced by Maison Margiela to be vegan anyways.

In order for products to be considered vegan by ethical elephant’s standards, the products and their ingredients must not be tested on animals anywhere in the world. Also, they must not contain any animal-derived ingredients or by-products.

Cruelty-Free Alternatives to Maison Margiela

Looking to switch to cruelty-free fragrances? Check out our guide to Cruelty-Free & Vegan Perfumes at Sephora!

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