The founder of Zara is the richest person on the planet. ZARA. Why is the brand interesting?

Today, the Zara company is known to almost every person. The retail chain offers a very large selection of products for its customers and boasts an affordable pricing policy. The company quickly and easily responds to customer requests. It is not surprising that beautiful clothes are so popular among average citizens. "Zara" is a brand of which country? Who is its founder? What is the history of creation? These and other questions about the Zara company can be answered in this article. The fashionable Spanish brand produces clothing for men, women and children. In addition, products such as shoes, accessories, underwear and perfumes are produced.

A few words about the founder

The largest company that cares about its customers and at the same time manages to follow fashion trends is Zara. Whose brand is it, who is at its origins? This question interests many fashionistas. Amancio Ortega Gaona is the founder of the network. He was born in a small Spanish town and spent his childhood in poverty. When the boy was 14 years old, he and his family moved to the province of Galicia. There he got a job as an apprentice to an Italian fashion designer. In 1972, as a thirty-seven-year-old man, Amancio Ortega opened his own knitting factory.

"Zara". Start

The history of the Zara brand began in 1975. It was then that Amancio Ortega, together with his first wife Rosalia Mera, opened his own small store. It was located on the main street of La Coruña. The future fashion mogul wanted to name his store Zorba, since his favorite movie was “Zorba the Greek.” But there were problems with registration, and Amancio had to change the name to ZARA.

Incredibly successful ideas of a Spanish businessman

Gaona was ahead of the Chinese and was the first to realize that producing copies of the best things from world-famous couturiers is a good and most profitable business. Moreover, such clothes will cost much less. This means that the average consumer will definitely fall for fashionable clothes at a low price. Amancio's concept turned out to be very successful. The Zara brand quickly became popular. Retail outlets began to open in all corners of Spain at crazy speed. In the 1980s, José Maria Castellano joined Ortega's team. Together, the friends came up with “instant fashion,” which became an innovative business system. Also, the newly minted colleagues opened their own design studio, which they called Inditex.

Acceleration of production

After gaining popularity in Spain for ten years, the Zara brand began to appear on the international market. In 1988, the first store was opened abroad. He was in Portugal. But Amancio and his company still had one more problem. The range of clothing was updated too slowly, new models were released only two or three times a year. Jose Maria Castellano, an information technology expert, was able to solve this problem. He created a unique and innovative model for the manufacture and distribution of products. With the help of special computer development, the company was able to reduce the time between the production of new models and their appearance on sale. This period was only ten to fifteen days.

Design team

The Zara brand is widely known all over the world. And this is not at all surprising. Indeed, for the fast and high-quality production of products, the company’s managers decided to hire not just one designer, but an entire internal team of stylists, which already at the end of the 1990s employed more than two hundred people. They worked using fashionable popular clothing as a basis for their collections. In addition, fashion designers worked on developing their own style for the company. The given course made it possible to quickly respond to new consumer demands and the emergence of the latest fashion trends. Modernization of production and inventory procedures, new computer programs for accounting for goods, as well as highly qualified designers saved ZARA from any losses and the accumulation of a large number of returnable clothing in warehouses.

New markets

Today, young people really love and appreciate products from the Zara company (the brand's country is Spain). But this retail chain was able to gain a good reputation in international markets only in 2000. In the 90s, Inditex gradually filled the shelves of the USA, Mexico, Greece, Belgium, Sweden, Malta and Cyprus. At the end of the twentieth century, the company also began supplying its products to Israel, Turkey, Argentina, Great Britain, Venezuela and Japan. But the French market became the most suitable for ZARA. New retail outlets quickly opened here and were located in major cities of the country. At the beginning of the 20th century, the company entered the markets of Germany, Holland, Poland, Ukraine and other countries of Eastern Europe.

Products

The Zara brand, the origin of which is connected with many interesting facts, produces fashionable men's, women's and children's clothing. In addition, the company produces a line of shoes, cosmetics, accessories and perfumes. The main thing for ZARA designers is to focus all their attention on the fashion preferences and requirements of their customers. It is important for the company to satisfy the needs of the buyer, and not to promote new models through shows or other methods of influence that are traditional in the fashion industry.

Pros of Zara

The ZARA retail chain offers its customers a fairly wide range of products, unlike any other companies in the fashion industry. This company produces approximately eleven thousand different products per year, while its competitors produce only two to four thousand. The company only needs one month to launch a product from the development stage and only needs two weeks to make changes to the design of an already produced product. Zara quickly and easily responds to current customer requests thanks to its accelerated production process. If a model is not in demand, it is immediately removed from sale. Moreover, all orders for its production are canceled, and the company immediately launches products with a new design. It is noteworthy that any product is not in stores for more than one month. For this reason, buyers try to visit ZARA brand outlets as often as possible.

Company production capabilities

Zara is a clothing brand that is a vertically integrated retail chain. The company differs from similar distributors in that it manages the design, manufacture and sale of its products. Most of the production of goods is under the control of ZARA. Half of the goods are manufactured in Spain, 26% in other European countries, 24% in Asia and Africa. The company's competitors produce their goods in Asian countries. But ZARA produces the most fashionable models only in its own factories, which are located in Spain and Portugal. It is in these countries that wage workers are paid much cheaper than in the rest of Western Europe. The Zara retail chain moves its production to Asia and Turkey only for the production of such goods as standard T-shirts and T-shirts, since they are on store shelves for quite a long time.

The life of Amancio Ortega, creator of ZARA

Amancio Ortega is considered the wealthiest businessman in Spain. He is the person who owns the Zara brand. Now Amancio ranks fourth in the ranking of the richest people on the planet. His capital amounts to sixty-four billion dollars. When the Inditex corporation was doing great, and Zara even surpassed its main competitor H&M in income, the company's founder began to have family problems. Amancio Ortega and his first wife, Rosalia Mera, together experienced the most difficult moments in the formation of their business. They had two children - a daughter, Sandra, and a son, Marcos, who was severely disabled. In 1985, the couple officially dissolved their relationship. After the divorce, 7% of Inditex shares went to Rosalia, who died in 2013, and her daughter Sandra Ortega Mera inherited her fortune. Amancio married for the second time his assistant Flores Perez Marcote. They still live in perfect harmony today. They have a daughter, Marta, who works for Amancio's company. A few years ago, Ortega, at the age of 78, stepped down as chairman of Inditex. He handed over the reins of government to young and enterprising people. Now Amancio leads a rather secluded lifestyle and does not communicate with journalists.

"Instant Fashion" by Zara

The Zara brand is part of the Inditex corporation. This group also includes such world-famous brands as Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Uterque, Stradivarius, Oysho and Pull&Bear. ZARA clothing is a combination of a designer approach and affordable prices. Now the clothes of this brand are the best-selling in the whole world. New clothing lines go on sale at lightning speed, and they are updated quite often. More than four hundred designers are working on creating new models. The creator of ZARA himself called this approach “instant fashion.” Clothes do not stay on store shelves unless they are in demand. It is quickly discontinued and a new one is created. Today, one thousand six hundred ZARA stores are open in seventy-seven countries around the world.

Specializes in the production of inexpensive wardrobe items, created, however, taking into account the latest trends in the fashion world. Both natural and synthetic materials are used. Quality ranges from mediocre to good. Prices in Russia are average, in Europe they are rather low. The assortment is wide.

Story

Inditex was founded by Spanish entrepreneur Amancio Ortega and his wife Rosalia Mera in 1975. ZARA became the company's first brand; the first company store was opened the same year in the Spanish city of La Coruña. It is there that the headquarters of Inditex is located to this day.

At first, the company was actually engaged in copying clothes from high fashion houses. Copies were sold at low prices, which made ZARA popular among low-income people who dreamed of wearing fashionable clothes. Currently, ZARA is no longer engaged in simple copying, but creates new models on its own, but taking into account the latest fashion trends.

The uniqueness of the company lies in the extremely high degree of sophistication of the production chain: clothes are created (designed) very quickly, put into production very quickly and end up in retail stores. The whole process takes about two weeks, which is an extremely short period of time. This “speedy” model was developed by Amancio Ortega and Jose Maria Castejano in the 1980s and provided ZARA with enormous success, because it became possible to respond very quickly to changes in demand, to new collections of leading designers, and so on.

By the end of the 80s, ZARA stores operated in 80 Spanish cities, in 1988 international expansion began - a store opened in Porto (Portugal), in 1989 the first store opened in the USA, in 1990 - in France. Inditex and its main brand have grown rapidly.

In 2000, ZARA entered the Ukrainian market, and in 2003 - into the Russian market. Currently, there are 1,671 brand stores in 76 countries around the world. There are 9 stores in Ukraine, 58 in Russia.

Range

ZARA's assortment includes men's, women's and children's clothing in a wide variety of styles, styles, and colors. In addition, at ZARA you can also find shoes (both formal and casual, and even sports) and accessories. ZARA Home stores sell bed linen and other home textiles.

Clothes are made from both inexpensive natural materials (cotton, wool, leather) and artificial ones (viscose, leatherette, polyester). Mostly budget materials are used (leather is mainly the cheapest - pork and bovine), which allows you to keep prices at a relatively low level. At the same time, it must be added that in Russia prices at ZARA are greatly inflated, while in Spain they are noticeably lower; in general, in Europe this clothing is more likely for the poor. Therefore, I do not advise you to be proud of ZARA clothes in front of Europeans or in general in front of anyone.

One of the main advantages of ZARA is diversity. In the stores of this brand you will find a wide variety of clothes in a variety of styles, colors and sizes. Moreover, the collections are regularly updated - something new appears approximately every two weeks.

The quality of clothing varies quite a lot: you can buy very good things and very mediocre ones. In most cases, you can tell by the appearance of a thing whether it will last a long time or whether it will soon lose its appearance. Carefully inspect the products before purchasing, choose the best copy available.

Regarding men's clothing, I can say the following: ZARA has very mediocre suits (and mostly made of synthetics), good, sometimes very good shirts and shirts, good jeans with a good price-quality ratio.

I would call the quality of the shoes very mediocre; for cheap shoes, mainly synthetic materials are used, as well as short-lived polished leather and velor (read more about the types of leather). For more expensive models, although smooth leather is used, it is usually cow leather - it is tough, and creases and folds may appear on it.

Well, in any case, remember that ZARA specializes in “fast fashion”, that is, it is expected that customers will constantly update their wardrobe, trying to follow the latest fashion trends, and will not wear the same thing for years. Accordingly, ZARA clothes are simply not designed for long-term wear.

Personal impressions. Reviews

In my opinion, you can find some pretty good things at ZARA - if you look for them. It is best to come during sales, then you can buy, for example, a good 100% cotton shirt for 600-700 rubles - this is a very attractive option. I have no complaints about ZARA shirts; their quality is quite consistent with the price (however, there are also some pretty ugly ones, you have to look carefully).

But suits are a different matter; I have seen ZARA suits that lost their appearance within six months after purchase. Moreover, they are mostly synthetic, and this is immediately obvious. Their prices are not so low; This, by the way, also applies to business trousers.

Reviews on the Internet vary. Many people like the opportunity to buy really bright and fashionable clothes for relatively little money. Others are outraged by the quality. On my own behalf, I can add that, for example, in Moscow, ZARA clothing is already perceived as consumer goods and with its help you are unlikely to stand out, especially in the eyes of those who wear more expensive things. If you are not interested in fashion, but just want good, modest clothes, then it’s better to go to GAP - there, of course, the design is boring, but the clothes are high quality and durable, very wear-resistant.

Brief summary:

Clothing styles : classic, strict casual, club casual.
Range : almost all items of clothing (from underwear to jackets and coats; from jeans to suits), shoes (sneakers, shoes, boots), various accessories (belts, bags, etc.).
Clothfor men, women, children . Textiles for home.
Dimensions : women's - from XS to XXL, men's - from S to XXL.
Materials : natural - cotton, wool, leather, artificial - polyester, elastane, viscose, etc.
Price category : average, sometimes above average (in Europe - rather lower).
Discount program : absent.

Approximate prices (as of October 2012) for women's clothing:

T-shirts, T-shirts - 500-2000 rubles (on average - 800).
Shirts, blouses - 1500-4600 rubles (on average - 2000-3000).
Dress - 2000-6000 rubles.
Skirt - 1500-5000 rubles.
Jeans - 1900-3000 rubles.
Trousers - 1900-3000 rubles.
Jackets - 2000-7600 rubles.
Pullovers, cardigans, sweatshirts - from 800 (cotton) to 4600 (woolen) rubles.
Jackets - 2000-16000 rubles.
Raincoats - 5000-7600 rubles.
Boots - 3800-9000 rubles.
Low shoes, ankle boots - 3800-7600 rubles.
Sneakers - 1400-2000 rubles.
Shoes - 2000-4400 rubles.
Belts, belts - 900-2600 rubles.
Umbrella - 800-900 rubles.
Bags - 1500-8000 rubles (average 3000-3800).
Caps, hats - 500-1700 rubles.
Scarves and shawls - 1000-3000 rubles.
Gloves - from 1000 (knitwear) to 1700-2000 (leather) rubles.
Socks - 400 rubles per pair, stockings - 600-900 rubles.

Approximate prices (as of October 2012) for men's clothing:

And interior items.

The brand's policy is to produce products that are affordable in price and at the same time correspond to the latest fashion trends. According to CNN, Zara is one of the best-selling brands in the world. Currently there are more than 640 brands in 47 countries.

The Zara brand is part of a corporation (Industria de Diseco Textil), which also owns the brands Pull and Bear, Oysho, Uterqüe, Massimo Dutti and Stradivarius. The owner of the group of companies is a businessman - a man who ranks 7th in the ranking of the richest people in the world according to Forbes magazine (his fortune is estimated at $31 billion).

History of the Zara brand

The birth of the brand idea

Entrepreneur Amancio Ortega Gaona was born in 1936 in the Spanish village of Buzdongo de Arbaz, Leon province. His father was a railway worker, and his mother was a housewife. At the age of 14, the future entrepreneur dropped out of school and got a job as a messenger in a men's shirt store, and then as a salesman in the La Maja haberdashery store, where his brother, sister and a girl named Rosalia Mera, who later became his wife, worked.

Four years later, Amancio Ortega Gaona opened his own business: initially he ran wholesale warehouses. At that time, he came up with the idea of producing and directly distributing children's dressing gowns, which would ensure low prices for the products. Together with his wife, the entrepreneur began sewing them in his own living room. Then Amancio Ortega copied the underwear of the famous expensive brand, which marked the beginning of the Zara brand policy.

Opening of the first store

On May 15, 1975, Amancio Ortega opened his first store in La Coruña. It presented clothes copied from products of leading fashion houses at relatively low prices.

Creation of a unique organizational system

Within four years after the opening of the first store, a network of boutiques was created throughout Spain. Amancio Ortega developed a unique production, warehousing and sales system that allowed products to be sold at affordable prices while maintaining their high quality. The system he developed was so innovative that it was subsequently studied by specialists at Harvard.

Development of a network of boutiques

In 1988, Amancio Ortega opened stores in Portugal, in 1989 in the USA, and in 1990 in France. By the 1990s, Zara had become the fastest growing fashion chain in the world. with an annual growth rate of 30 - 40%. Currently, Zara boutiques are represented in Spain, Russia, the USA, France, Italy, Great Britain, Ukraine, Mexico, Greece and the Middle East. In 2010, a rebranding was carried out, which marked the company's desire to continue to actively move forward.

Change of Chairman of the Board of Inditex Group

IN In January 2011, Amancio Ortega Gaone left his post as Chairman of the Board of the Inditex Group of Companies. He retains 59.2% of the organization's shares, and 87% of his fortune continues to be a share in the company. In the future, his stake should go to his eldest daughter Martha, who since 2007 has been part of the management of funds managing the assets of the Ortega family. Currently, the post of chairman of the board is occupied by former vice president of the company Pablo Isla, who worked for the Inditex Group since 2005 and in five years brought the corporation's brands to Asia, and also opened the Zara online store.

Work principles

Affordable prices

Zara brand clothing is in the middle price category. The absence of your own brand shows allows you to save on the cost of the final product while maintaining the quality of the company's tailoring.

The principle of "instant fashion"

The brand applies the so-called principle of rapid design, when a minimum amount of time passes from the development of a new collection to its presentation in stores (about 15 days). The company's creative team, consisting of more than 200 specialists, uses global trends to create new collections. The noticeable resemblance to clothing largely ensures the success of the brand. The brand's conceptual policy is to combine classic and youth styles in its models.

Frequent collection updates

Zara tailoring is carried out in small batches using industrial and cottage industries. Currently, the Zara brand cooperates with 30 manufacturers of materials and accessories. The range of collections (more than 10 thousand models per year) in branded boutiques is replenished twice a week. The fast deliveries characteristic of the brand ensured the emergence of a new term “Z-day” in the clothing market.

Franchising

The Zara brand network operates under a franchise system. In the regions, company representatives have master franchises, which allow them, at their own discretion, to control the number of boutiques in their territory. In Russia, 36 stores have opened in 10 years, and now franchising has been temporarily suspended. In this regard, the ZaraZara brand appeared in our country, which follows the concept and style orientation of the brand.

Brand lines

Official site: www.zara.com

The creator of the greatest modern brand Zara, the Spaniard Amancio Ortega, as befits all conscientious millionaires, comes from a poor family. In the book “The Zara Phenomenon” (hereinafter in the text the book is quoted in italics), he recalls an incident that turned his life upside down:

“I remember one afternoon after school I went with my mother to get food. I was very young, and she met me at school. Therefore, very often I went shopping with her. The store we went to was one of those big grocery stores with such a high counter, so high that I didn't actually see who was talking to my mother, but I heard a man's voice say what I had been carrying inside me. time and never forget: “Joseph, I’m very sorry, but I can no longer sell you goods on credit.” I was shocked. I was only 12."

Despite this, Amancio claims that he was able to achieve unprecedented heights in the industry only because he did not have the goal of making a ton of money:

“If it's true that I earned a lot of money, it's because it was never my goal,” he told me just recently. “I’ll go further - in my opinion, anyone who gets into business with the sole purpose of making money is not a real businessman.”

After the incident at the grocery store, Amancio Ortega dropped out of school and got a job as a sales assistant in a store-atelier - all to ensure that the same story would never happen to his mother again. Here he learns the basics of cutting, sewing and running a business:

“I was not educated at school. But what matters is the ability to set goals and do everything to achieve them.”

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What followed were years of hard work. At the age of 17, the future tycoon left for the position of assistant at the La Maja company, where his older brother and sister already worked. The young man’s talent was noticed and he was soon promoted to manager. By the way, 16-year-old Rosalia Mera Goyenchev took his place, whom he would marry two years later.

During his time at La Maja, Amancio generated many fresh ideas. He decided to implement one of them himself, namely, to sew clothes by hand, but from factory fabric. He quit and founded a home-tailoring shop in 1963 with his brother Antonio. They had less than 20 euros in their account, but this did not frighten the young people. In a small workshop, the family produced fashionable quilted robes, which were sewn by Amancio’s first wife and his half-sister. The guys had that same commercial streak, so things went uphill. Soon they bought and began to export clothing from other Spanish brands. And now it’s not far from your retail store.

Although how to say “not far” - 10 years. The first Zara retail store was opened in 1975 on the main street in La Coruña, Amancio's hometown.

Posted by ZARA Official (@zara) Sep 21, 2016 at 1:57 PDT
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One collection every 10 days
Amancio originally wanted to name the company Zorba after his favorite actor Anthony Quinn's character in the film Zorba the Greek. But copyright on a character's name is a stubborn thing. Zara is like Zara:
“Network names should be one word because it makes them easier to remember. And it’s good if they are short and sound normal in other languages. The problem is that when you find a good word, you need to make sure that it is not registered as another trademark. Sometimes it's surprisingly difficult."
The first Zara boutique featured copies of clothes from popular fashion houses, but for less money. This gained fame among the local population - and who doesn’t want, for example, a Chanel dress for a penny? So the business had to expand and open new stores.
At the same time, Amancio Ortega became concerned with creating a new business model, which later became a breakthrough. He was not happy that there was a whole six-month period between the creation of the design and the collection going on sale! It was necessary to somehow speed up this process, because 2-3 collections a year is too little for an ambitious guy. A major role in this matter was played by José Maria Castellano, who began working with Ortega in 1984 and took upon himself the development of a computerized distribution scheme for goods. And he did it! Now the clothing line hit store shelves within 10-15 days! Just think about these numbers: 10 days versus six months.
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Zara's operating principle is a breakthrough!
Zara brand designers constantly study fashion magazines and attend fashion shows
The company, of course, does not disclose all the details of its success, but it is known that only at the end of the 20th century they recruited more than 200 designers who developed collections based on current trends. Large staff, modernized production - and now the new Zara collections are selling like hot cakes. By the end of 1985, the company had more than 80 of its own stores in Spain, in which the assortment changed every two weeks. This did not leave fashionistas any time to think about whether to take it or not, but, on the contrary, forced them to visit their favorite boutique more often.
Fashionistas all over the world love Zara because it allows you to wear what was recently presented on fashion catwalks. And not a year later, when trends will descend to the common man, but at the same time with those who can afford Gucci and Dior. And the difference is almost invisible! That’s why Zara clothes, shoes and accessories are loved by both celebrities and you and me. Everyone wants to look good and save money at the same time.
“Zara does not copy, as some suggest, but is inspired by what it sees.”
To stay ahead of the curve, Zara has a special department that studies fashion magazines, attends shows, and cuts clothes from other brands to adopt, for example, cool cuts for its products. They also travel around the world, studying what people wear in different countries, what colors and cuts they prefer, and which trendsetters they follow as examples.
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Zara claims that it does not copy, but is inspired by what it sees. On the left is an item from the Armani collection, on the right is Zara
On the left is an item from the Gucci collection, on the right is Zara
On the left is an item from the Dolce & Gabbana collection, on the right is Zara
On the left is an item from the Chanel collection, on the right is Zara
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So, when we have decided on the trends, it’s time to create a prototype of the collection. These things are tested on real people. Those that pass the tests successfully fall into the hands of fashion designers who prepare patterns. Next is obtaining approval for the production of a thing, searching for the most profitable options for its production. Approximately 25% of the collection is produced before the start of the season.

Zara (Persian for “gold”) is a world-famous Spanish brand that produces men's, women's, children's clothing, shoes, accessories and interior items.
The brand's policy is to produce products that are affordable in price and at the same time correspond to the latest fashion trends. According to CNN, Zara is one of the best-selling brands in the world.

I know that many Europeans 5-6 years ago (I won’t say how it is now, I haven’t been there for a long time) compared brands such as H&M and Zara with local second-hand stores, because the price of things was about the same, only in the latter the quality is often better. And such things were bought in all these places with one attitude: I just take them because they are comfortable, inexpensive and I like them. But in Russia, I have repeatedly encountered some kind of show-off and show-off, like I dress in Zarya, this is not some kind of consumer goods... Seriously, I’m not joking)

And perhaps the reason for this was some new pricing policy of the store, inexplicable to me, which was once democratic. Even before the fall of the ruble, which happened 2 years ago, prices in the store began to rise by leaps and bounds. Initially they were comparable to other Inditex group stores such as Stradivarius, Pull and Bear and Bershka. And then something inexplicable began to happen: prices were higher, and the quality was getting worse and worse.

I once had a red jacket from this brand, bought for around 2000 thousand without discounts, and when it was completely worn out, I wanted to buy another one of the same quality. Literally a couple of months before I went to buy a specific model for myself, I saw them in the summer for 2600 without a discount, but when I came to the store in early autumn, I was horrified to discover that now the same jackets of the same model cost 5200. 5200!!! Yes, for that amount I could buy myself underwear, a T-shirt with jeans, shoes, a jacket and still have enough left over for chocolate))

I was tormented for a long time whether to buy a crimson s

or m blue

But neither the size nor the color bothered me as much as the price... and you know what? in the end, I didn’t take either one or the other, because it was much cheaper, I found what I wanted at Stradivarius for 1700 without a discount and at Mango for 1600 with a discount, that is, I bought two jackets cheaper than one at " Dawn".

Later in the winter, I was looking for a warm knitted cardigan. I found a very nice one at Zara for 3,000 rubles. (yeah, but the 5200 jacket, where’s the logic?) I didn’t take it right away, I snatched it a little later at a sale with a 50% discount:

Indeed, it is very soft and cozy, but I would never give more than 1,500 rubles for it.

True, after two weeks I bought an even warmer and more comfortable cardigan at Bershka for 600 rubles, and then two more there for 300 rubles.

Those who often go to Inditex group stores in the same price segment have probably noticed that some items are sold exactly the same, only with different tags. The first thing I noticed were the knitted cardigans, everything down to the shape of the buttons matched. Also very similar are basic T-shirts and trousers, translucent chiffon shirts and some other products. The question is, why pay more if you can get the same thing cheaper at Bershka or Stradik?

In a negative sense, I would like to note the bags from Zara: they are more expensive than their analogues, they are certainly not of the best quality, but sometimes you are lucky and you can snag a leather bag (and shoes) for a great price, and it will last a long time. In this regard, "Zara" is similar to "Mango". Another similarity between these stores is that the price has increased, and the quality of things has dropped significantly, although it is impossible to take away from these Spanish brands the fact that they always present one of the first many trendy models. The cut, fabrics, textures are copied and interpreted instantly from high fashion shows, and then the Chinese begin to copy Zar’s models.

Brand lines:

Zara Woman It has a special cut, unique only to this line, and is sewn in an elegant business style from natural materials - cotton, wool, silk. The collections are aimed at women from 25 to 45 years old who value elegance, comfort and quality products. Zara Woman is the brand's most expensive line.
Zara Basic is the baseline of the brand. Collections of men's, women's and youth clothing are sewn in a casual style from materials combining natural and synthetic fibers. Products from the Zara Basic line have a more affordable price than Zara Woman models, but are not inferior to them in the quality of tailoring.
Zara TRF(Trafaluc) is a line of youth clothing designed for boys and girls under the age of 25. Products are made in sports, club and casual styles, mainly from natural materials. The clothes have bright, unusual colors and original design solutions. The concept of the collections is to express individuality through clothing. The Zara TRF line features inexpensive items.
Zara Man - a line of men's clothing in a classic business style. The collections' products are made from natural materials and are intended for men who want to look presentable and fashionable at the same time. The men's line is in the middle price category.
Zara Kids – a line of children's clothing made from natural materials.
Zara Home – line of goods for home and interior. The collections include home clothing and shoes, textiles and bed linen, tableware and serving utensils, as well as vases, photo frames, etc.

Both “Basic” and “Woman” have long been inconsistent with the declared quality, at least what is sold in Russia. “TRF” was indeed once super-budget, but now I specifically looked at the prices in the online store and didn’t notice much of a difference with other lines.

It is from “TRF” that I have a cotton sundress:

I didn’t buy anything from the “Man”, “Kids” and “Home” lines.

Another of my very ancient, but super high-quality purchases from Zarya is a coat, even with some percentage of wool. I loved it very much, only his buttons kept falling off and I had to alter them, but the material itself is very good:

Well, my friend and I went to the supermarket to buy groceries and had fun; student times, don't pay attention))

By the way, I compared prices in an online store in Russia and Vietnam (since I live here now), and you know, they are either the same or in favor of Russia, which surprised me. For Vietnam, Zara is still a little expensive, in the sense that for this money you can buy clothes in local semi-designer shops, where everything is hand-sewn and more or less exclusive + you can tailor it exactly to your measurements.

There are many counterfeits of this brand in Vietnam, some of which are very obvious, while others, no matter how much I turned the item in my hands, no matter how much I studied the details, I could not distinguish. If these things were in a company store, I would never suspect a substitution. Or maybe there are sometimes fakes in branded stores?.. or is it not a fake? after all, a quarter of things are found in various Asian countries, including Vietnam, and China accounts for a very tiny share. There is evidence that Zara has not passed quality tests for several years in a row, which means that the composition of the items indicated on the label does not coincide with reality. More expensive material (for example, cotton) is replaced with a synthetic one, the company saves money, and the item quickly loses its presentation.

In general, I have few purchases from this store, the ones that happened were so long ago, not to mention they didn’t remain, I don’t even have a photo of them, and lately I just haven’t taken anything there. I'm taking off one star for the price and another for the quality, leaving three for the beautiful design. But where I really bought a lot of clothes was “BeFree” and “Love Republic”.

And yet, as a brand, Zara is a phenomenon, which you can read about in a book with a design no less beautiful than that of clothing:

Happy shopping and great discounts!