The Spanish fashion company, Zara, has been immensely successful in expanding and outdoing their competitors. They are renown for their creative and efficient supply chain that allows them to ship out new trends of fashion in 2-3 weeks compared to other clothing retailers which usually take months to do the same.
How was it even possible for this relatively new clothing retailer to pull out as a leader in the fashion industry? Multiple factors are attributed to their success which mainly encompasses their unique supply chain. Zara takes full control of their production and distribution which has been proven to work. Zara engages in a highly competitive design and manufacturing style, by really pushing design teams to be the first ones with the new fashion trends and getting the edge over their competitors. However, Zara’s success is also due to their extensive use of outsourcing which allows them to adjust to the rapid changes in the fashion industry. They outsource their clothing to parts of Spain, Europe, Asia, and Africa just like many other clothing retailers. Despite the lower costs of production it does pose some ethical issues. In many of these nations the workers who create the clothing garments are underpaid and do not abide by labour laws. We must look at the whole picture of Zara, from its successes all the way to ethical issues that are brought upon by the success.