The Man from Zara by Covadonga O'Shea

Author:Covadonga O'Shea [O'Shea, Covadonga]
Language: spa
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781907794209
Publisher: LID Publishing Ltd

Good quality clothing?

Some people still have the idea that “Zara clothes are cheap, but of poor quality,” a criticism I pass on to one of the store managers with whom I talked when collecting material for this book. The response is, “The number of people who do actually think that is shrinking fast. There is even a section of the women’s collection, for example, where very expensive Italian fabrics are used. These garments never make a profit but they earn valuable prestige for the company.” At issue here are garments that are slightly more expensive, but still have a good quality/price ratio. At the other extreme is the Basic collection, produced using fabrics that are a blend of man-made fibres to keep costs down. Pure wool is obviously different from polyester or rayon, even though rayon can actually be a natural product.

In the opinion of the majority of the employees, Ortega had a very adventurous perception of the new woman and the paradigm change this implied. He understood that fashion had to become democratic, that good quality garments should be affordable by everyone, not just the financially favoured. “Our plan was to make clothes that were of steadily increasing quality at a good price and we succeeded.”

Another question which comes up in my conversations with the store staff concerns the formula adopted to ensure that all the clothing does not come out the same. They are aware of the danger, and strive to avoid it in their shops. The starting point is at the production stage: they never produce a large quantity of units of the same garment; rather, they launch great numbers of models every year, around 20,000, with every effort made to avoid repetition. On top of this is the fact that all the shops are different. Some customers believe they are selling different collections, because the shops are run as though they were boutiques, particularly if they are small, so the feeling is that the clothing is exclusive. Store managers are allowed a great deal of leeway when it comes to placing orders to resonate with their customers’ desires. The aim is to create a more personal ambience so that each customer is handled to perfection.

To ensure that everything functions with maximum efficiency, the shop manager has to be directly connected with the headquarters at Arteixo. All data is computerised and updated every night. At Arteixo the distribution staff works with the figures and the orders they receive for various shops. A significant factor in the success of the business is actually the relationship between the stores, so that they are able to interchange merchandise. Each manager is completely in control of what comes into her shop and what leaves it, and everybody else can receive this information in real time. The optimum is for a complete change of stock every 28 days. “The aim is that for every point of sale they put new stock on the shelves and transfer stock that doesn’t move to other stores.

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