Most famous for its workwear, and secondarily its Zara Basics range, the Spanish brand with its origins in metropolitan A Coruña has turned into a global household name that’s even chic enough for Paris’ biggest shopping street. This is unusual given the brand’s no-advertising policy and its arguably risky strategy of ‘fast fashion’ – turning around a new design in two weeks compared to a six-month industry average.
Owned by Spanish tycoon Amancio Ortega, the Zara brand was formed in 1975. Its global presence eclipses many other high street brands, with it currently serving 73 countries, and it also controls all steps of the supply process (design, production, and distribution) itself, which again is understood to be fairly unusual among retailers of this type, as is the fact that no design stays on the shop floor for more than four weeks. Its styles go from the utilitarian to the flamboyant, and draw upon a range of inspirations, from 1950s modesty through to the Ancient Greek toga, and this range of styles in tandem with the company’s rapidity of turnaround ensures compatibility with the desires of a number of different age groups.
Zara’s environmental and animal welfare policies are also made transparent on its website. The environmental policy covers the eco-efficiency of its stores and the provenance of the clothing materials used, as well as the company’s carbon footprint and its pledge to use only biodegradable bags. The company states that the animals used for fur and leather products “come exclusively from animals reared in livestock farms, and never from animals sacrificed exclusively for the sale of their skins”. This transparency alone, even discounting Zara’s obvious savoir-faire in terms of fashion and business, is something that other companies could learn from.