Amancio Ortega and Rosalía Mera co-founded Zara in Spain in 1975.
The first Zara store opened in A Coruña, Galicia. Ortega had previously worked in clothing manufacturing and retail, and the new store used a fast-response approach that connected customer demand, design, production, and distribution more closely than traditional fashion retail.
Zara became the flagship brand of Inditex, the Spanish fashion group founded by Ortega. The brand expanded internationally and became known for frequently changing collections and rapid movement from design concepts to store shelves.
Zara is sometimes confused with Inditex. Zara is the retail brand, while Inditex is the parent company that also owns brands such as Bershka, Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, and Stradivarius. Rosalía Mera was Ortega’s first wife and a co-founder of the business.