20 December 2012

Zara makes its move on the Canberra Centre

| johnboy
Join the conversation
21
zara

Thanks to Tootza for sending in confirmation the long awaited Zara is coming to the top floor of the Canberra Centre.

The agile Zara will give the other retailers nearby a run for their money:

It is claimed that Zara needs just two weeks to develop a new product and get it to stores, compared to the six-month industry average, and launches around 10,000 new designs each year. Zara has resisted the industry-wide trend towards transferring fast fashion production to low-cost countries. Perhaps its most unusual strategy was its policy of zero advertising; the company preferred to invest a percentage of revenues in opening new stores instead. This has increased the idea of Zara as a “fashion imitator” company and low cost products. Lack of advertisement is also in contrast to direct competitors such as Uniqlo and United Colors of Benetton.

Zara was described by Louis Vuitton Fashion Director Daniel Piette as “possibly the most innovative and devastating retailer in the world.”

It will keep the Apple store company quite nicely.

Join the conversation

21
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest
globalhandmade11:25 am 01 Mar 13

The impact of mass produced fashion on environment and the ethics of businesses are starting to generate more interest in Australia, and a movement towards ethical fashion is gathering momentum. Ultimately if consumers want more ethical fashion and “slow” fashion, then the market will listen and deliver. I’m still optimistic about the future.

GardeningGirl11:52 pm 21 Dec 12

mossrocket said :

Zara, keeping nimble fingered Brazilian children gainfully employed since 1975…


On August 16, 2011, a Brazil television show called A Liga (of the Bandeirantes TV network) accused the company of using suppliers who were running sweatshops for their outsourced production. On August 17, 2011, the Regional Superintendency of Labour and Employment of São Paulo, Brazil, closed a factory that produced Zara’s clothing for its poor labour conditions. Bolivians were brought illegally to Brazil, locked in small apartments and sewed clothes for 12–14 hours a day. They could not leave the apartment without the consent of the supervisor and didn’t have hot water for taking showers or food for lunch. The Bolivians earned about 1 USD for each dress they sewed, although the retail price in Brazilian stores was about 70 USD for the same dress. Many of the workers were forced into paying their wages to human traffickers who had smuggled them into the country.

In a statement, Zara’s representatives said that the accusations of slave labour made against the retailer represent a “serious breach in accordance with the Code of Conduct for External Manufacturers and Workshops of Inditex.”

On March 21, 2012, the investigative journalism television program reported stories of twenty-five Zara employees, both shop-managers and shop staff, that testified about severe abuse and terror against their employees in Sweden and Europe. Zara’s representative did respond that they will investigate and solve these problems in the organisation. The union of shop workers, Handels, did respond that Zara had promised improvement and was breaking their legal agreements and Unionen, organising white-collar worker such as shop-manager, called Zara’s company management as “Management by fear”.


Enjoy your quickly created, guilt free, slave clothes Canberra!

I’d heard of Zara three times.

First when the opening of the Sydney store was in the news. At first I thought perhaps its good news to be getting some competition in the Australian marketplace.

Then some of the news reports on the Bangladesh factory fire included Zara in the list of the factory’s customers.

As well Zara featured in a recent Greenpeace report which seems to have had some sort of effect. http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/features/Zara-commits-to-go-toxic-free/

Not really the sort of quality competition I was hoping for. 🙁

Never heard of Zara before reading this post.
So went to look at their website (which has a very annoying main page once you select your country!)

Design strategy for dresses seems to be:
1. get a hessian bag
2. cut arm and head holes

Some seriously unflattering clothes.

I live within walking distance of a Zara store and it’s absolute rubbish. American Apparel is a better option if you want similar clothing.

JazzyJess said :

Does anyone else find Zara totally underwhelming? I’ve been to both the Melbourne and Sydney stores and didn’t buy a thing. It was overpriced and poor quality.

Given they are the biggest fashion retailer in the world with over 1600 stores and have been running for almost 40 years I guess they have more fans than detractors

Zara, keeping nimble fingered Brazilian children gainfully employed since 1975…


On August 16, 2011, a Brazil television show called A Liga (of the Bandeirantes TV network) accused the company of using suppliers who were running sweatshops for their outsourced production. On August 17, 2011, the Regional Superintendency of Labour and Employment of São Paulo, Brazil, closed a factory that produced Zara’s clothing for its poor labour conditions. Bolivians were brought illegally to Brazil, locked in small apartments and sewed clothes for 12–14 hours a day. They could not leave the apartment without the consent of the supervisor and didn’t have hot water for taking showers or food for lunch. The Bolivians earned about 1 USD for each dress they sewed, although the retail price in Brazilian stores was about 70 USD for the same dress. Many of the workers were forced into paying their wages to human traffickers who had smuggled them into the country.

In a statement, Zara’s representatives said that the accusations of slave labour made against the retailer represent a “serious breach in accordance with the Code of Conduct for External Manufacturers and Workshops of Inditex.”

On March 21, 2012, the investigative journalism television program reported stories of twenty-five Zara employees, both shop-managers and shop staff, that testified about severe abuse and terror against their employees in Sweden and Europe. Zara’s representative did respond that they will investigate and solve these problems in the organisation. The union of shop workers, Handels, did respond that Zara had promised improvement and was breaking their legal agreements and Unionen, organising white-collar worker such as shop-manager, called Zara’s company management as “Management by fear”.


Enjoy your quickly created, guilt free, slave clothes Canberra!

Does anyone else find Zara totally underwhelming? I’ve been to both the Melbourne and Sydney stores and didn’t buy a thing. It was overpriced and poor quality.

poetix said :

…No, I’m going for a more classical, restrained look:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Sexy-PUNK-Kera-Goth-Visual-Rock-emo-fashion-kei-broken-skull-pants-size-M-/300834040632?pt=AU_Womens_Clothing_2&hash=item460b1b2b38#ht_8156wt_718

Tee hee.

Awesome! You’d fit right in at all your favourite Braddon haunts in this – with the bag (as long as it was all synthetic leather!). Though, riding your fixie, or running to catch your environmentally-friendly bus may be a struggle in those shoes…. Actually, driving a car wouldn’t be any easier! Hahaha!

dpm said :

poetix said :

Given I buy about 60% of clothes from op shops, and about 20% from said hip and funkies (given that they actually allow for the notion of hips in another sense) a few items from Japan are no less than my due……

Let me guss then… Hello Kitty?
http://www.sanrio.com/characters_hello_kitty/japan_la_x_hello_kitty_leggings_disco_outerspace
Hahahaha! 🙂

And now I’m finding all sorts of Hello Kitty stuff that I actually like, god damn you! This is dangerous stuff. Before I know it I’ll be buying the hello kitty nerd bag, and I’m not even a nerd, but it matches some shoes I have:

http://www.sanrio.com/sale%5Fbags/hello%5Fkitty%5Ftote%5Fbag%5Fnerd

Or an iPhone cover. For my Samsung.

I must go and read The Guardian or something.

dpm said :

poetix said :

Given I buy about 60% of clothes from op shops, and about 20% from said hip and funkies (given that they actually allow for the notion of hips in another sense) a few items from Japan are no less than my due……

Let me guss then… Hello Kitty?
http://www.sanrio.com/characters_hello_kitty/japan_la_x_hello_kitty_leggings_disco_outerspace
Hahahaha! 🙂

No, I’m going for a more classical, restrained look:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Sexy-PUNK-Kera-Goth-Visual-Rock-emo-fashion-kei-broken-skull-pants-size-M-/300834040632?pt=AU_Womens_Clothing_2&hash=item460b1b2b38#ht_8156wt_718

Tee hee.

poetix said :

Given I buy about 60% of clothes from op shops, and about 20% from said hip and funkies (given that they actually allow for the notion of hips in another sense) a few items from Japan are no less than my due……

Let me guss then… Hello Kitty?
http://www.sanrio.com/characters_hello_kitty/japan_la_x_hello_kitty_leggings_disco_outerspace
Hahahaha! 🙂

Zara is the most over-rated rubbish ever and all designed to be worn by the inhabitants of Middle Earth.

Would be good if they charged the prices they charged in Europe. Shouldn’t be too hard considering where most of it is made. Though thinking about it as we are out of phase weather wise with Europe and America, I reckon the goods that come here must be the old season left overs. So that means their ability to get new products out fast is irrelevant for our market.

poetix said :

rosscoact said :

Beauty, I need some yellow pants

Oh dear, I just ordered some black ones. Should I hang my head in non-daffodil shame?

Not shame, disappointment 🙂

dpm said :

poetix said :

rosscoact said :

Beauty, I need some yellow pants

Oh dear, I just ordered some black ones. Should I hang my head in non-daffodil shame?

I trust you’re ordering from one of the hip and funky stores in Braddon (near the vegan cafe) and not ordering off da ‘net?! That would be a shame!

Given I buy about 60% of clothes from op shops, and about 20% from said hip and funkies (given that they actually allow for the notion of hips in another sense) a few items from Japan are no less than my due.

Although the model they are on in their representation on said nets weighs about as much as one of my legs, so we’ll see how they look in the slightly* bigger size.

*Slightly in this sentence bears a meaning usually not associated with that word (-:

poetix said :

rosscoact said :

Beauty, I need some yellow pants

Oh dear, I just ordered some black ones. Should I hang my head in non-daffodil shame?

I trust you’re ordering from one of the hip and funky stores in Braddon (near the vegan cafe) and not ordering off da ‘net?! That would be a shame!

rosscoact said :

Beauty, I need some yellow pants

Oh dear, I just ordered some black ones. Should I hang my head in non-daffodil shame?

Time for the staff in the Canberra Centre’s 50 billion different boutique women’s clothing stores to start looking for new jobs.

Beauty, I need some yellow pants

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.