How Zara got clothes from the design table to the store in weeks
Amancio Ortega and his wife at the time, Rosalía Mera, opened the first Zara store in A Coruña, in northwest Spain, in 1975. They had been making clothing for other retailers and decided to sell directly to shoppers.
The parent company, Inditex, is based in Arteixo, near A Coruña. It also owns Massimo Dutti, Pull&Bear, Bershka, Stradivarius and other brands.
Speed
Zara’s model is built on speed. Much of its production is close to Spain, in Spain, Portugal, Morocco and Turkey, which lets it design, make and ship new styles in a few weeks. Stores get new items twice a week, and designers watch sales data closely to make more of what is selling and drop what is not.
That approach, often called fast fashion, let Zara follow trends quickly and keep shoppers coming back to see what is new.
Growth
Inditex went public in 2001 and grew into the largest fashion retailer in the world by sales. Ortega became one of the richest people in Europe.
His daughter, Marta Ortega, became chair of Inditex in 2022.
Criticism
Fast fashion has drawn criticism for waste and pressure on workers in supply chains. Inditex has made commitments on recycling and materials and faces growing competition from Shein and other online sellers.
