Zara advertising causes boycott against the firm in Gaza: the brand’s reaction

Zara On Monday, it removed an advertising campaign featuring limbless mannequins and statues wrapped in white from the cover of its website and its app, after some pro-Palestinian activists called for a boycott of the fashion chain.

Inditex, which owns Zara, said the change was part of its normal content update procedure. He did not comment on the calls for a boycott, but said the collection “Atelier” was conceived in July and the photos were taken in September. The war between Israel and Hamas began after October 7.

Tens of thousands of comments were posted on the photos on Zara’s Instagram account, many of them featuring Palestinian flags, while “#BoycottZara” was a trend on the X messaging platform.

In one of the photos a model appears carrying a mannequin wrapped in white, in another a bust lying on the floor and in another a mannequin without arms. Critics said they looked like photos of bodies wrapped in white shrouds in Gaza.

Zara declared at the collection’s presentation on December 7 that it was inspired by men’s tailoring from centuries past. The photos appear to show an artist’s studio with ladders, packaging materials, wooden boxes and cranes, and helpers dressed in overalls.

The reaction highlights the growing sensitivity that international brands are experiencing as fighting in Gaza intensifies and calls for boycotts of companies increase. The CEO of Web Summit resigned in October following comments he made about the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

The photos, which appeared on the home page of Zara’s online store on Monday morning, were no longer visible on the website or its app at 1230 GMT. A link on the UK website to Zara Atelier led to a page showing last year’s collection.

The collection, made up of six jackets, is one of Zara’s most expensive, with prices ranging from $229 for a gray wool blazer with chunky knit sleeves to $799 for a studded leather jacket.