Zara “apologises for miscommunication” over the recent campaign that “depicted” scenes from Gaza
After some pro-Palestine activists called for a boycott of the fashion company, Zara removed an advertisement campaign on Monday off the first page of its website and app. The campaign featured statues shrouded in white and mannequins with missing limbs.
Zara’s parent company, Inditex, stated that the modification was a standard part of their content refresh process. The “Atelier” collection was conceptualized in July, and the images were taken in September, according to the statement, which did not address the calls for a boycott.
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The fashion brand released a statement a few days after the controversy first surfaced. “Unfortunately, some customers felt offended by these images, which have since been removed, and saw something that was not intended when they were created,” the statement read. Zara expresses sorry for the miscommunication and reiterates its profound regard for all individuals.
Tens of thousands of people commented on the images on Zara’s Instagram account, many of which included Palestinian flags, and the hashtag “#BoycottZara” became popular on texting app X. A model is seen carrying a white-clad mannequin in one of the pictures, a bust is seen lying on the ground in another, and a mannequin without arms is shown in yet another. Some who saw them stated they looked like images of dead bodies in white shrouds in Gaza.
During the collection’s December 7 unveiling, Zara stated that the line was influenced by menswear from bygone eras. The images seem to depict an artist’s workspace complete with ladders, packing boxes, wooden crates, cranes, and overall-clad helpers.
The response underscores the increased awareness that global firms are handling as the conflict in Gaza worsens and demands for business boycotts grow. After making remarks regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict in October, the CEO of Web Summit tendered his resignation.
By 12:30 GMT on Monday, the images that had been displayed on Zara’s online store homepage had vanished from both the website and the app. The UK website had a link to Zara Atelier, which took users to a page displaying the collection from the previous year. The six jackets in the collection are among Zara’s priciest; they range in price from $229 for a grey wool blazer with thick knit sleeves to $799 for a leather jacket with studs.
This isn’t the first time a fashion brand has been embroiled in controversy over an ad campaign. Last year, the French luxury giant Kering created a group-level post to supervise brand safety after sales were negatively impacted by criticism over child-themed advertising from its Balenciaga line. 2018 saw the removal of Dolce & Gabbana from Chinese e-commerce platforms following a campaign that included models using chopsticks to eat traditional Italian meals, which local celebrities and social media criticised as being racist.
Last year, after the local franchise director of Zara in Israel sponsored a political campaign event for an ultranationalist lawmaker, the business faced criticism from some Israelis and Palestinians.
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