Zara Faces Boycott Calls Over Campaign Claimed to Resemble Gaza War Scenes

By Andrea Figueras

Zara has withdrawn images from an advertising campaign after pro-Palestinian activists called for a boycott, claiming the images resembled scenes in Gaza in the context of the Israel-Hamas war.

The pictures of "The Jacket" campaign, which is part of the brand's "Atelier" collection, showed sculptures with missing limbs and mannequins without arms surrounded by rubble. In another picture, a model carried a mannequin wrapped in a white sheet, which some activists claim resembled a corpse.

Users of the social media platform X reacted to the images with the hashtag #BoycottZara.

Some customers felt offended by the images and saw in them something far from what was intended when they were created, the brand of Spanish fashion giant Inditex said Tuesday in a post on Instagram.

The company declined to make any further comments and the link to the Atelier collection is no longer available.

"The campaign, that was conceived in July and photographed in September, presents a series of images of unfinished sculptures in a sculptor's studio and was created with the sole purpose of showcasing craftmade garments in an artistic context," the company said.

"Zara regrets that misunderstanding and we reaffirm our deep respect towards everyone," the company said.

Write to Andrea Figueras at andrea.figueras@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 12, 2023 06:57 ET (11:57 GMT)

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