Fashion giant Zara faces boycott over 'sickening' campaign resembling Gaza destruction

The fashion giant Zara has promoted a new campaign showing a model standing amid props resembling the destruction and dead bodies seen in Gaza, causing shock and outrage.
2 min read
10 December, 2023
Zara is a Spanish fashion chain with over 2,000 stores worldwide [Photo by Michael Buckner/Penske Media via Getty Images]

A new promotional campaign by the Spanish fashion giant Zara has caused shock and outrage, with people claiming that it celebrates the destruction of Gaza.

The campaign, aimed at promoting a new collection of jacket, shows scenes of model Khristen McMenamy standing among rubble and mannequins fully wrapped in white, resembling the shrouded bodies of victims of Israel's indiscriminate war on Gaza, which has killed over 18,000 people, including thousands of children.

The images resembled destroyed and damaged buildings with rubble strewn everywhere, resembling scenes from Gaza which have shocked the world.

Melanie Elturk, the CEO of fashion brand Haute Hijab, said of the campaign, "this is sick. What kind of sick, twisted, and sadistic images am I looking at?"

Zara has acted controversy before, when its Israeli franchise holder hosted extremist Israeli minister Itamar Ben Gvir at his home.

Another member of the fashion world, entrepreneur and designer Samira Atash, called for a boycott of Zara over the campaign.

According to Zara the series is a "limited edition collection celebrating our commitment to craftsmanship and passion for artistic expression".

However the fashion giant is facing renewed calls for a boycott, with the hashtag #BoycottZara attracting 110,000 posts on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

The New Arab contacted Zara for comment but has not receive any at the time of publication.