Protesters Demand “Boycott Zara Free Palestine” Outside Manhattan Store
New York City saw a protest outside of ZARA in Manhattan on December 11, 2023, with demonstrators demanding a boycott of the fashion chain under the banner of “Boycott Zara Free Palestine”. The protest was sparked by a controversial ad campaign from Zara’s Atelier line, titled “Collection 04_The Jacket,” which has been accused of being insensitive to Gaza war victims.
The ad campaign features images of model Kristen McMenamy standing in front of props including mannequins wrapped in white plastic surrounded by rubble. Other models behind her were covered in dust and dressed in white. Pro-Palestinian supporters have compared the wrapped mannequins to the body bags used for Palestinians in Gaza killed in the war against Israel.
The controversial photos have since been removed from the company’s official site. However, the images have gained new traction on social media, with many associating the mannequins with victims from the Israel-Gaza war, leading to the trending of #BoycottZara on social media platforms.
Demonstrators at the New York City protest charged the company with “genocide”, with fliers reading “Zara: Fast Fashion for Fascists”. Zara stores in several other countries are also facing protests and even vandalism, according to photos and videos on social media.
In response to the controversy, Inditex, the owner of Zara, insisted that the images were posted as part of its regular procedure of “refreshing content” and explained that the design was conceived in July and the photos were taken in September, before the war began.
Zara’s posts on “The Jacket” previously described it as “garment by garment, the ZARA ATELIER re-evaluates the paradigms of fashion design in order to reinvent them.”
The company so far has not directly commented on the viral call for boycotts. Zara is scheduled to announce its latest quarterly results on Wednesday.