Zara Presentation

Zara (Spanish: [ˈθaɾa]) is a Spanish clothing and accessories retailer based in Arteixo, Galicia, and founded in 1975 by Amancio Ortega and Rosalía Mera. It is the flagship chain store of the Inditex group, The world's largest apparel retailer, the fashion group also owns brands such as Massimo Dutti, Pull and Bear, Uterqüe, Stradivarius and Bershka.

It is claimed that Zara needs just two weeks[2] to develop a new product and get it to stores, compared to the six-month industry average, and launches around 10,000 new designs each year. Zara has resisted the industry-wide trend towards transferring fast fashion production to low-cost countries. Perhaps its most unusual strategy was its policy of zero advertising; the company preferred to invest a percentage of revenues in opening new stores instead. This has increased the idea of Zara as a "fashion imitator" company and low cost products. Lack of advertisement is also in contrast to direct competitors such as Uniqlo and United Colors of Benetton.

Zara was described by Louis Vuitton Fashion Director Daniel Piette as "possibly the most innovative and devastating retailer in the world." Zara has also been described as a "Spanish success story" by CNN.[3]

Contents [hide]

1 Origins and history

2 Products

3 Manufacturing and distribution

3.1 Toxic-free production

3.2 Human rights concerns

3.2.1 Sweatshops

3.2.2 Shop staff abuse

4 Stores

5 References

6 External links

Origins and history[edit]

Amancio Ortega opened the first Zara store in 1975 in a central street in downtown La Coruña, Galicia, Spain.[4] Ortega named his store Zorba after watching the classic film Zorba the Greek, but apparently there was a bar that was called the same, Zorba, two blocks away, and the owner of the bar came and said, "this is going to confuse things to have two Zorbas." They had already made the molds for the letters in the sign, so they just rearranged them to see what they could find, and they found Zara.[5] The first...