Fashion

This is how Zara responds to intense uproar after mannequins in ‘body bags’

By
Zara Campaign

Commotion in modeland: Zara is under fire. And big time too, this time. Because they completely miss the mark with a photoshoot featuring ‘body bags’.

It is evident that Zara is posting photos from a fashion shoot in which a model poses with mannequins wrapped in sheets.

Response Zara

People find it downright ‘tasteless’, as they associate these shocking images with the war between Hamas and Israel. “A new low. Our pain is not for sale,” writes Zynab Al Aziz, a Palestinian journalist on X. And you can be the biggest fashion house in the world, but even there they apparently make mistakes. A blunder that is going viral worldwide. Palestinian artist Hazem Harb writes on Instagram: “Using death and destruction as a backdrop for fashion is extraordinarily horrific. There is no way this is not intentional.”

After the criticism, Zara took a number of photos offline, but the relevant photos are still visible on X. They are now also coming out with an official statement and a clear response.

Zara: ‘After listening to all the criticism regarding these photos from the new collection, we want to share something with our customers. The campaign was meant to resemble someone in a studio creating sculptures. It was supposed to show that some sculptures are not yet finished – it has at least an artistic context. Unfortunately, several people were affected by these images and therefore we have removed them. These people saw something in it that was completely not our intention. Zara regrets that there has been a miscommunication and we want to emphasize that we have deep respect for everyone.’.

Well. What can we say? We love Zara, but this...

Image: ZARA Campaign