The Ugly Side of ZARA

Last time we talked about Girlfriend Collective, and all of their ethical changes in the fashion industry. In this article we’ll be taking a look into Zara, and the impact that their profit-first model has on their clothes and workers.

Figure 1 — Source: BBC/ A glimpse of ZARA

Over the past year I’ve noticed more people advertising Zara’s trendy clothes and low prices. Stemmed from the rising problematic tactics of fast fashion, I decided to investigate Zara’s business practices. I came across a series of articles that detailed Zara’s shady operations, including stories of workers being underpaid, overworked, and mistreated. One account had a factory worker stitching hidden messages into the product in order to communicate their unfair wage. While Zara outsources its manufacturer, it should still be held responsible for the treatment of the factory workers.

Figure 2–7 — Source: Ecowatch/ The difference between the garment workers and consumers

Figure 8 — Source: YAA/ Manufacturers with sweatshop conditions

Zara’s reckless behavior continues into their production cycle. It produces approximately 840 million garments for its 6,000 stores. Operating in a two week clothing cycle, their cheap synthetic material ends up in landfills and are not broken down. They also use cheap labor from underdeveloped countries like China, India, and Bangladesh in order to provide more money for their stockholders. These countries’ natural resources like rivers and lakes get contaminated when the manufacturer dumps their dye into the water causing irreversible suffering. Companies like Zara feel no remorse because they hardly visit the sites in which their impact is most powerfully felt.

Figure 9 — Source: Course Hero/ How ZARA works on getting new garments into their stores

Figure 10 — Source: Business Insider/ The unfortunate conseqeunce of disposing contaminated water into waterways

As expressed in my previous article I am attempting to shop more sustainably. Buying from fast fashioned retailers like Zara end up costing all of us in both economic and environmental impact. Investing in better quality clothing steers consumers into buying less, which reduces our footprint. While the fashion industry steers towards a more sustainable model, brands like Zara refuse to acknowledge the problem. We as consumers have the power to hold these brands by their purse strings and require change for the betterment of the planet.

L.H.

Figure 11 — Source: WTVOX/ What to consider when you find yourslef wanting to shop