Misleading Zara Video Goes Viral Amid Boycott Calls

A video misleadingly labeled as evidence of consumers turning against Zara has gone viral on social media, amid boycott calls against the fashion retailer.

In recent days, there have been calls for the Spanish brand to be boycotted, after a campaign called "The Jacket" for its 2024 Atelier range was unveiled showing mannequins wrapped in white fabric and models standing amid trash from freight boxes.

The photos have been deemed by detractors as being insensitive to the plight of the Gaza region. One image that proved particularly controversial showed a model posing with one of the fabric-wrapped mannequins balanced on her shoulder.

Amid Israel's ongoing conflict with Hamas, which has left thousands of people dead, images coming out of the territory have shown piles of bodies wrapped in white sheets.

During an October 7 surprise attack on southern Israel, Palestinian militant group Hamas killed 1,200 people and took about 240 hostages back to Gaza. Israeli forces have since killed more than 17,700 people in Gaza, according to the Associated Press.

Following the backlash that Zara faced for its campaign images, some of the photos were deleted from the retailer's social media accounts. Zara also issued a public apology.

The fashion retailer stated in a social media post that the campaign was "conceived in July and photographed in September," before the October 7 conflict began.

Zara explained the images were meant to represent unfinished sculptures in a studio and were "created with the sole purpose of showcasing craftmade garments in an artistic context."

"Unfortunately some customers felt offended by these images, which have now been removed, and saw in them something far from what was intended when they were created," the company wrote. "Zara regrets that misunderstanding and we reaffirm our deep respect towards everyone."

As discussion continues around the Zara campaign, video footage was shared on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday, purporting to show piles of clothing discarded by disgruntled consumers in protest of the brand.

The 10-second clip, which has been viewed more than 230,000 times in the hours since it was uploaded, showed piles of clothing on the sidewalk outside Zara and a number of other stores, as other items fell to the ground and filled the streets.

Captioning the footage, the uploader wrote: "After Zara made a disrespectful ad about the Gaza conflict, Americans are throwing away all their Zara clothes in front of the company. Damn on Zionists and anyone backing them."

The post was rounded out with a trio of hashtags that read, "#Gaza," "#zaraboycot," and "#Gaza_Genocide."

However, the video has been slapped with a platform-generated warning that it has been "presented out of context," along with a correction that reads: "This video is an excerpt from an advertising campaign for Vestiaire Collective released on 20 November 2023. The subject matter represents issues surrounding fast fashion waste."

It is not the first time that Zara has come under fire for issues relating to Israel and Palestinians.

Zara also faced calls for a boycott in 2021 when it was revealed one of its head designers had sent a Palestinian model anti-Palestinian comments via direct message on Instagram.

Model Qaher Harhash said Vanessa Perilman, Zara's head designer for the women's range, sent him the message after he expressed his pro-Palestinian stance on the image-sharing platform.

"Maybe if your people were educated, then they wouldn't blow up hospitals and schools that Israel helped to pay for in Gaza," a screenshot of the alleged message read.

"Also I think it's funny that [you're] a model because in reality that is against what the Muslim faith believes in and if you were to come out of the closet in any Muslim country you would be stoned to death."

Harhash then posted those messages online, leading to a call for a boycott of Zara, and he later claimed Perilman sent him more messages apologizing out of fear of losing her job and her children's safety.

The model also said Zara had asked him to share Perilman's apology publicly, but he refused.

"If Zara wants to make a statement with me, they also need to address Islamophobia. When certain fashion designers said anti-Semitic things, they were fired from their jobs," he wrote on Instagram. "So far, Vanessa Perilman hasn't been fired."

Harhash added: "For me an apology means to fully acknowledge the pain or suffering you caused someone. She came into my DM's wrote hateful comments, why should I accept a half assed apology?"

More recently, Zara was criticized after the owner of its Israeli franchise hosted the country's hardline right-wing national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, at a campaign event.

Joey Schwebel, a Canadian-Israeli dual national and chairman of Zara Israel, hosted Ben Gvir at his home in Ra'anana, according to the Times of Israel.

Following the event, Palestinians were seen burning clothes from Zara and calling for a boycott of the brand on social media.

Ben Gvir is the head of the far-right nationalist party Otzma Yehudit, which translates to Jewish Power. He has been indicted 53 times for violations that included racial incitement, violent acts and supporting a terrorist organization. He was also convicted of eight criminal offenses that included such violations.

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