The Spanish fast-fashion retailer founded in 1975 and serving as Inditex’s flagship brand is Zara.
Amancio Ortega and Rosalía Mera opened the first Zara shop in A Coruña, Galicia, in 1975. They originally planned to call it “Zorba,” after the film Zorba the Greek, but changed the name after discovering that a nearby bar already used it.
Zara grew by combining design, manufacturing, distribution and retail under close corporate control. Its rapid product cycle became central to the fast-fashion model: designs could move from concept to stores far more quickly than at many traditional clothing retailers. Inditex, founded later in 1985, became Zara’s parent company.
Zara is often confused with Inditex itself. Zara is the best-known brand; Inditex is the Spanish fashion group that also owns brands such as Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius and Oysho. Zara also expanded beyond clothing into accessories, beauty products and home goods.