The Story of Zara: The Rise of Fast-fashion

How can one man and his company reshape the way we consume clothing? 

Why are we still following his footprints half a century later? 

These questions refer to Zara, the super machine producing runway trends and making them available to the average consumer. 

One man, one idea- Spain, 1975: 

In 1975, after the death of the long-lasting dictatorship of Franco, Amancio Ortega founded his clothing business, Zara, creating look-alikes of high-end clothing and selling them for a cheaper price. A really genius idea, to look good and trendy without having to spend the cash. Let’s put it this way, Zara’s ideas started drawing attention in Spain, the business model was very clever and the fashion was appreciated by customers. After almost five decades, one store in northern Spain turned into 2,264 worldwide.  

The beginning of fast fashion: 

The real revolution came in 1985 when a new distribution system was implemented. Zara had to react to new trends in a faster way, to ultimately reduce the time between the creation of a design, production, and distribution. Shorter cycles meant more sales. Fast fashion was born. As opposed to its competitors, Zara controls its production and manufacturing process, from design to distribution. 

The main particularity of Zara at the time was the short lifespan of the clothing in the store, customers had to learn that if they liked something, they had to buy it, as high chances were it wouldn’t be there the next week. New, trendy, and cheap, were all the ingredients to create the perfect recipe. 

The legacy: 

Nowadays, the fast-fashion model is the most widespread way of buying clothing. The truth is, we don’t know anything else. 

The approach to success has been copied, over and over again, and for the first four decades, no one ever came close to Amancio’s revolutionary idea. He revolutionized fashion and made it accessible to the larger public. Without Zara, and its disruptive system, chances are we would consume clothing in a very different way.

But, since then, other brands have fast-forwarded the business model of fast fashion and taken it to the next level, by reducing the production period to under 7 days, such as Shein and their ultra-fast fashion model. Over the years, Zara was surpassed by the Chinese fast-fashion retailer. 

In the graph below, it is clear that the Indexed U.S. In 2022, Shein’s sales are more than double the sales of Zara.

Nonetheless, Zara is growing, and the brand seems to have a bright future. Zara has established itself as the reference and go-to brand in terms of fast fashion. However, like many other fashion brands, Zara is being pressured to take more steps towards sustainability. 

Zara started a program called Join Life with the goal to achieve Net Zero Emissions by 2040. 

‘JOIN LIFE REPRESENTS A PROCESS OF CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT, OF CONSTANTLY QUESTIONING OURSELVES WHAT WE SHOULD BE DOING TO ADVANCE TO A MORE SUSTAINABLE MODEL. WE KNOW THAT THE ROAD IS COMPLEX, BUT WE BELIEVE IN THE INDUSTRY’S POWER OF TRANSFORMATION. AS SUCH, OUR SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL OBJECTIVES HAVE BECOME MORE RIGOROUS TO BE ABLE TO KEEP IMPROVING.’

Such claims may seem incompatible with Zara’s business model as the core of fast fashion is ultimately to promote fashion overconsumption and a never-ending cycle of buying new clothes. 

With Zara, the business model has to be reshaped from the beginning to fit the definition of sustainability. Nonetheless, the brand is conscious of its impact and is taking little steps to make progress, even though it is far from being sufficient to have a positive repercussion on the planet and the people making the clothes. 

As consumers, we should think of alternatives to Zara, and reflect on the way we consume clothing.