Zara offers a collab 'event with a great designer
Zara, the Spanish ready-to-wear brand, pays homage to 90s haute couture by collaborating with Narciso Rodriguez and Natalia Vodianova.
On September 8, Zara released a news collection capsule created in collaboration with the American designer of Cuban origin Narciso Rodriguez . Since his appointment as head of Zara last April, Mary Ortega , daughter of the group's founder, relies on partnerships high fashion to make a upmarket Zara products.
From this new positioning of the company stems the opportunity of this collaboration with Narciso Rodriguez, friend of the Ortega family. This fall 2022 collection is made up of twenty-five pieces must have , faithful to the minimal and sensual style of the creator. Narciso Rodriguez, now known for his successful perfumes, has not offered a show since 2018. For this capsule, he has immersed himself in the archives of his debut and modernizes his most iconic pieces, such as his slip dress imagined for the wedding of her friend Carolyn Bessette Kennedy in 1996. In the end, it is a complete wardrobe proposed by the designer: a long black wool coat, a jumpsuit oversize white, a red midi dress, a woolen bustier or a loose and satiny set consisting of a top and pants, all at prices included between 29.95 euros and 359 euros . To image these looks, Zara and Narciso Rodriguez called on the British fashion photographer Craig McDean and to the muse of the collection, the supernova mannequin aka Natalia Vodianova , also a fashion icon of the 90s. The result? Shots with an architectural and angular look, highlighting fluid, sober and elegant pieces. As Narciso Rodriguez wished: 'The result is a series of pieces that celebrate the essence of my work with a modern sensibility.'
Who has to pay the return costs on Zara and how?
The Spanish ready-to-wear brand Zara, a leading figure in international fast fashion, is taking new measures regarding its return policy. From now on, parcel returns will be charged! Since April 28, 2022, Zara has added a small line to its website that initially went unnoticed, but which may not be unanimous among consumers. In fact, the Spanish giant has made a radical change in its sales policy: parcel returns (except for defective items) are now chargeable if they are made by post. In addition to the shipping costs already established, and we say sending orders is from now on charged 1.95 euros, an amount deducted directly from the amount reimbursed . On the other hand, no return costs for clothes returned to stores, whether purchased online or in stores.
If this announcement may seem sudden and surprising, since free returns were an undeniable asset of the brand, it would seem that the brand has reviewed its plans for the future following the pandemic. Marked by the changes in consumption over the past two years, the Iberian label has decided to work in favor of the environment. Introducing return fees would make it possible to limit the environmental impact caused by transport and excessive consumption of CO two that they generate. Thus, customers are encouraged to consume in a more virtuous way, by buying less and returning their items directly to the store. A rather surprising decision for the leader of fast fashion, which has built its economy on a model of rapid and abusive production. For the moment, the Inditex group (which owns Bershka, Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti and many other brands) has decided to apply this new regulation only to Zara, but customers fear that other brands will subsequently adopt the same change. Good to know: it is also already the case at H&M, which applies a fee of €0.95 per online return (and still allows free in-store returns as well).
But is ecology the real reason for this tariff change? While this is Zara's most legitimate explanation, many economic analysts simply suspect that individual returns were too complicated and too expensive to be managed on a case-by-case basis, hence the decision to make the consumer pay for them, especially as some people, attracted by the ease of ordering and returns in the world of e-commerce, were becoming more and more return enthusiasts. The rest will tell if other brands follow suit!
How did the Zara brand become the queen of ready-to-wear?
Before becoming a juggernaut of women's fashion , Zara was a clothing workshop, opened in 1963 in A Coruña (Galicia) by Amancio Ortega Gaona, also founder of Inditex. The latter, with his wife Rosalia Mera, his brother Antonio and his sister-in-law Franca, specializes in making pajamas and dressing gowns.
Ten years after its creation, the company already employs 500 people and in 1975, comforted by its success, Amancio Ortega Gaona, decides to inaugurate its first ready-to-wear store r. It opens in La Coruña and is called Zara . If the brand is immediately successful, it is because it has an innovative approach. It is betting on offering clothing collections that are as close as possible to trends, constantly renewed, in a premium environment inspired by luxury boutiques, at a frankly attractive price. Success is at the rendezvous and Zara Spain quickly gained interest abroad, with the opening of a first international store in Porto in 1988, then in New York in 1989. Mexico City, Athens, Bruges, Valletta, Nicosia… Today, the brand is present in 202 markets and has more than 6,500 stores globally. Enough to generate a turnover of 18 billion euros in 2018! And like Zara, it's not just clothes, in 2002 the brand launched a new branch, Zara Home , which offers decorative pieces for the home. It was Zara Home who first launched its online store in 2007. For clothing, it was in 2010 that the brand opened up to e-commerce.
But the coronavirus epidemic does not leave the Spanish brand unscathed. In May 2020, she announces that she will close 1,200 of its 7,412 stores worldwide . Hit hard by the closing health measures, Inditex suffered a loss of 409 million euros in the first quarter of 2020. However, Zara is bouncing back and doing well by betting on a new strategy. Indeed, in addition to the 1,200 closures, 450 new stores opened to make way for larger spaces, richer from the point of view of the customer experience and to strengthen the link between physical and digital points of sale. The brand can also be proud of its online sales. During the first quarter of 2020 and particularly during the lockdown, these increased by 50%.
Where to shop Zara in France?
The French, on the other hand, waited until 1990 for the first store Zara Paris see the day. And it's at 2, rue Halévy, in the IX th district, let the sign put down its suitcases. From now on, Zara France represents 125 stores throughout France. Among the most essential shops, you have to count on the Zara Opera . Inaugurated in April 2017, it covers 4,000 square meters, spread over four floors. It contains all the ingredients for the success of the Spanish brand: collections directly inspired by the fashion shows and low prices!
Accessories are not left out. Bags, scarves, Zara shoes all seem to have escaped from the last catwalks. And the whole family benefits from it, because in addition to its women's ranges, the brand offers lines Zara Man and Zara Kids. It is also the perfect place to succumb to Zara sales , when the most beautiful pieces of the season are sold at unbeatable prices. On the other hand, in France, no outlet Zara . You will have to go to the outlet of the Inditex group located in Alicante to shop the collections of the Spanish brand at mini mini prices.
Why do stars like Zara so much?
The craze for the brand is global: Kate Middleton, Letizia from Spain, Jenifer, Selena Gomez, Caroline Receveur, Iris Mittenaere... They all fall for Zara! And for her wedding in February 2018 to artist Sebastian Bear-McClard, actress, activist and model Emily Ratajkowski had even fallen for a cumin yellow suit set from the Spanish brand, which quickly became sold out .
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How does Zara innovate to attract new customers?
To continue to surprise its aficionados, Zara continues to innovate. Since the end of 2018, the brand, which very rarely communicates in the media, offers, in addition to Zara Man, Zara Woman, Zara Kid s and You are TRF , makeup products, but also a limited edition line inspired by the military wardrobe, called SRPLS. In 2021, the brand has also imagined a collaboration with the French artist Charlotte Gainsbourg . An ideal wardrobe that gave pride of place to jeans , a must-have in the singer and actress' wardrobe.
The brand, like many in the field of fashion, is increasingly thinking about reducing its impact on the environment: by 2025, Zara wants 100% of collections to be made from sustainable materials and responsibly. A challenge for which it will be necessary to redouble our efforts, the brand having been accused by several associations, as well as by the European deputy Raphaël Glucksmann, of contributing to the exploitation of the Uyghurs in China.
Source journaldesfemmes.fr
