BACKGROUND TO THE ZARA CAMPAIGN
Inditex, which owns Zara, is an international fashion and clothing chain, with 2064 outlets in 52 countries throughout the world. With so many shops in so many countries, this means that Zara is a big player in the promotion of fur in the fashion world.
In the UK, Zara has been a target of anti-fur activists for several years. They originally claimed that they only sell rabbit fur, which they described as a by-product of the meat industry. Activists knew this was a lie intended to make fur acceptable again in the UK, where the fur trade has been in serious decline for many years.
There was a big campaign with protests in many towns and cities throughout the UK. Finally in October 2003, the company withdrew all fur from their UK stores, and gave a pledge not to sell fur in future.
However in the Summer of 2004, fur began to appear in Zara UK shops again, and when the company was approached we were told that the parent company had sent the fur to the UK branches by mistake, and that it would be removed. When this didn't happen, protests started again in several towns and cities.
The campaign was spread to Sweden, where activists held a protest at Zara's only outlet there in Stockholm. After only a few hours, the shop removed its fur, claiming it had been a istake, much as Zara UK had done. It was time to spread the campaign to other countries.
An international day of action was organised for Saturday September 25th. The response was amazing. Protests were planned in at least 40 towns and cities throughout Europe and North America, flyers and campaign materials were distributed over the internet.
On 22nd September, Inditex CEO and Deputy Chairman José María Castellano Ríos released the above statement on behalf of the company. CAFT welcomes this statement, although we re disappointed that fur will be sold for a few weeks in some countries.
We urge all campaigners from all over the world to be vigilant and check all shops in the inditex group (Zara, Pull and Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho, Zara Home y Kiddy's Class) adhere to the new fur free policy.
