Role of design final report correct

Zara: A Blue Military Coat

Role of Design in the Fashion Industry 2FMM502.1

Emily Wiley

Emily Wiley Zara: A Blue Military Coat

Table of Contents

1. Introduction2. Retailer: Zara

a. Market positionb. Operationsc. Competitiond. Core Customer

3. Garment4. Colour Pallette

a. Zara’s process for finding key colors relevant for their target customer.5. Yarn and Fabric Fairs

a. How Zara employees choose fabrics that are relevant for their target customer.6. Presentation of Trends/ Mood Boards

a. An explanation of how Zara researches trends.b. An example of what a Zara trend board might look like.

7. Garment Designa. Garment sketches from Zarab. The design process

8. Sample Collectiona. The process in which Zara creates and decides on a sample collection

9. Buyinga. An explanation of how Zara presents their customers with their sample

collection.b. Customer profiles

10. Deliverya. The Delivery Process

11. Salesa. Zara’s past sales

12. Media Impacta. Media coverage of similar products

13. Conclusion14. References

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The first time I walked into Zara on Oxford Street, I was officially in love. As far as I

know, there isn’t a Zara near my hometown in Texas, so this was a rare treat for me. Once I

started my classes in London and started to learn more about this retailer, I knew they would

be my first choice for this assignment. They are one of the largest international retailers, and

they belong to Inditex, also very large, and an international distribution group (Zara). Inditex

was founded by Amancio Ortega Gaona, a clothing manufacturer who grew the business over

a decade until he owned many factories and distributed merchandise all over Europe. The first

Inditex store was Zara, which is originally Spanish, having begun in A Coruna, Spain in 1975.

It has now spread to over 400 cities in Europe, both North and South America, Asia, and

Africa. Shortly thereafter, due to Zara’s success, more stores are opened in some major

Spanish cities. Inditex and Zara approach fashion with “creativity, quality design, and rapid

turnaround to adjust to changing market demands,” which is just one of the reasons Zara is so

successful. Their business model is fully focused on being innovative and flexible, also

attributing to their success. Throughout this report, I will be exploring the design process of

Zara, and how they probably created a royal blue military pea coat.

Zara’s position is in the middle to high end of the market, due to the fact that it is

affordably priced, but not necessarily based on value. This is

proven by Zara’s price, which is between $6.90 for a pair of

socks to $399 for a coat. It competes directly with Benetton,

The Gap, The Limited, and Top Shop, along with many

others as you can see on the London high street (Sovereign).

As for its operations, Zara sticks to the term fast fashion. It

takes 4 weeks for an idea to hit stores, with feedback from

store managers sent back to the corporate office to let them

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know how their products have been selling, and what would make the customers happier.

Spain, Zara’s founder, is under control of all its stores, keeping the lead times shorter,

avoiding issues that can arise from importing and exporting from a different country, and

allows Zara to keep to its roots (Lariviere, 2011). These are just a few of the reasons why Zara

keeps such a large client base. Zara’s core customer tends to be a sophisticated, fashion

conscious woman aged 18 to 35. Zara also caters to fashion conscious men of a similar age

range as well as kids.

The coat that I chose is a royal blue military coat, definitely a stand out item that

embodies the current military trend as well as the color blue, a newer

trend for the Autumn/Winter 2011 season. It is a part of the Zara basic

line, and was positioned with the rest of this line against the back wall

near a similar coat in black. It was made in Morocco, has a black lining

and gold plastic buttons. The composition of the coat includes an outer

shell made out of 60% polyester, 34% viscose and 6% elastic. The

black lining is made of 100% acetate, giving it a satin-like feel. The fit

is similar to a pea coat, with a slightly higher, stand up collar with

buttons going all the way to the top, as well as a slightly fuller skirt.

The vibrant blue color of this coat is one of the reasons I was drawn to

it, and I was curious as to how Zara chooses which colors to use for

their customer base. Looking at the color palette for Zara, I noticed a lot

of beige and nude colors, as well as pops of burnt orange, different

shades of sage green, black, dark and a slightly lighter purple, and gray.

Bright colors appeared shortly thereafter, with blues similar to the blue of the coat, reds,

purples, yellows, greens and pinks (Color Hunter). Colors like those listed previously are

chosen by Zara are not only based on their customer profiles, but also on the moods of their

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customers. Retailers are beginning to choose colors to create an environment, also known as

color psychology, in order to enhance the likeability of the garments and increase their

chances of selling. By creating the desired environment for customers to shop in, which

includes the garments for sale, customers feel comfortable, and the store will then reflect the

typical Zara customer (Retail Customer Experience.com, 2009).

Like colors, Zara chooses fabrics in order to create garments that will reflect their

target customer best. However, they also have to keep up with their fast fashion model, which

is why they choose fabric that is less expensive. Zara chooses about 10,000 designs to go into

stores, of which they have to make in possibly “five to six colors and five to seven sizes,”

creating a realm of approximately 300,000 units in stock (Ferdows, Lewis, & Machuca,

2005). Zara’s design team gets their fabric from their parent company, The Inditex Group,

who completes the marking, cutting, and final finishing of the garments. External suppliers

are given the fabric and other necessities from Zara when creating garments for Zara (Fashion

Gear). These fabrics need to entail the typical

customer of Zara: sophisticated, fashion conscious and

high quality. This is why Zara takes production of

fabrics into their own hands, and when not producing

garments on their own in Spain, provides all of the

necessary ingredients to their suppliers to create

garments that they know would sell.

Next in the design process is mood and trend boards. Zara would create these after

researching trends to decide which trends their customers would be looking for, and how to

put a unique spin on them. Zara’s design employees attend “trade fairs and ready to wear

fashion shows in Paris, New York, London, and Milan” while also referring to “catalogs of

luxury brand collections” in order to decide which trends would be best for their customers

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(Ghemawat & Nueno, 2006). From this research, Zara designers would then be able to create

initial sketches based on what they think the typical Zara customer would like to see in stores.

Creating trend boards is another way Zara would present ideas to managers as well as

organize their ideas for production. A Zara trend board would probably look something like

this:

(The Attic People, 2011). Trend boards

help designers to visualize their ideas,

and put all of the trends that they would

like to incorporate in one place. Also,

trend boards are useful when it comes to

presenting ideas to a manager or

customer, helping them to get an idea of

what the designer intends to create, and

what the basis for the design is.

Next in the design process is the actual design of the garment. The design process

begins with researching of the trends, color choice, fabric choice, trend board creation and

presentation, garment sketches, sample collection creation, buying, delivery, and finally sales.

This is all done by Zara’s team of 200 buyers (Harvard Business School, 2005). After creating

a trend board, Zara begins to create the initial sketches for a garment. In these sketches, they

will include the trends that they have researched, with a Zara twist to them, in order to

embody what the typical Zara customer is looking for. A garment sketch from Zara would

probably look like this:

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(Garroni, 2011). It is sophisticated, while still being fashionable, and is still in its first stages.

Garment sketches could have notes explaining the fit, what it should be worn with, production

ideas, color ideas, and possibly swatches of fabrics, or at least an idea of which fabric should

be used. This helps the designer to visualize their ideas, and to show the production team what

it is that they are looking for and how they the coat should be created. After this, the coat goes

into production and a sample is created.

Sample collections are necessary due to the fact that the designer needs to see what

they garment would look like after it is created, in order to be able to make adjustments

necessary to make the garment sellable. Also, the sample of the garment can be shown to

buyers as well as managers in order to be sure that the garment, in this case a blue military

coat, is acceptable to be sold to customers. A sample is a good way to provide a prototype of

what will be in stores in the coming season. Without a sample of the coat, the designer would

not know if there are any necessary changes that need to be made, such as color, fabric, trim,

and embellishment alterations, as well as changes in the shape and fit of the coat. After the

sample is produced and approved, it can be presented to buyers and orders can start filing in.

The buyers from Zara play a large role in selecting products for stores in Zara. They

have to consider “customer demand, market trends, store policy, financial budgets,” fashion

trends, and what their customer wants in order to choose the right products for their customers

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and increase sales (Prospects). Zara’s buyers review current collections and bring in new

products by deciding which ones are appropriate for their target customer. The designer of

this coat would have presented to buyers of this nature in a meeting, and the buyer decided

that it was appropriate for sale and purchased the sample. Shortly thereafter, the coat would

have been mass produced and put on the sales floor. Since Zara only sells their products in

their own stores, there are not buyers from other stores attempting to buy Zara’s products.

Zara’s buyers are solely there to decide which items are appropriate for the target customer

and whether or not they will sell well. They have been quite successful at this, given that

Inditex “recorded a 9% increase in sales to €2.21 billion in the first quarter of its financial

year” (Keeley & Clark, 2008).

Once these goods have been approved for the sales floor, they are mass produced, and

then delivered into stores. Zara has a reputation of bringing new products into stores every

two to three weeks. Zara products are primarily manufactured by their corporate headquarters;

therefore delivery lead times tend to be shorter, since a lot of their products are manufactured

in Spain. This makes replenishing the store with faster selling items easier. Stores receive

deliveries at least twice a week of new goods to replenish sold out products or simply to be

put on the shelves for the first time. Goods are sent from the manufacturing hub to stores to be

processed by the employees in the store and compared against what the corporate office had

ordered. This process has to happen quickly and relatively often in order to keep up with

Zara’s reputation for changing their products so quickly (Casium, 2010). Customers look

forward to walking into Zara and seeing all new products every couple of weeks.

Zara’s sales tend to be very high despite the problems with the economy due to their

high popularity with customers, but have also showed signs of wavering every now and then,

due to some customers cutting back and showing concerns over spending (Wallop, 2011).

However, in the first quarter of 2011 Zara did extremely well, showing an 11% rise to €2.96

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billion. Zara is now worth “an estimated €32 billion,” which is amazing considering it was

“founded on just €30” (Hume, 2011). Zara’s great design is

one of the main reasons it manages to be so successful,

simply by providing the customer with what they like.

Media coverage is another secret to Zara’s success,

simply by promoting the products and getting the word out

about new products and advertisements. Media coverage for

products similar to the blue military coat that caught my eye

include Polyvore, a website that allows you to put looks

together in a way similar to a trend board (Polyvore). Zara’s

fall campaign for 2011 also included a coat similar to the one I chose, showing the luxurious

coats that Zara offers for an affordable price (Fashionizers.com, 2011).

Researching Zara’s design process for this coat gave me insight into what is involved

in designing for a major retailer, from choosing the right colors and fabrics to putting the

product on shelves. The design process for this coat involved a large amount of research, and

allowed me to see the amount of work that goes into one garment. The fact that Zara

manufactures their products themselves was an interesting fact as well, proving Zara’s

products are worth the money.

BibliographyCasium. (2010, June). Retrieved January 3, 2012, from Fast Fashion: http://casium.fr/component/kashyap/bc_detail/111

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http://www.fashionizers.com/fashion/zara-the-mood-fallwinter-2011-2012-campaign/attachment/zarathemoodfallwinter201120121_thumb/


Color Hunter. (n.d.). Retrieved Janurary 3, 2012, from Zara Color Palettes: http://www.colorhunter.com/tag/zara/4

Fashion Gear. (n.d.). Retrieved January 3, 2012, from Zara: http://fashiongear.fibre2fashion.com/brand-story/zara/manufacturing.asp

Fashionizers.com. (2011, November 15). Retrieved January 3, 2012, from Zara 'The Mood' Fall/Winter 2011-2012 Campaign: http://www.fashionizers.com/fashion/zara-the-mood-fallwinter-2011-2012-campaign/

Ferdows, K., Lewis, M. A., & Machuca, J. A. (2005, February 25). Harvard Business School . Retrieved January 3, 2012, from Zara's Secret for Fast Fashion: http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/4652.html

Garroni, L. (2011, April 11). Afingo. Retrieved January 3, 2012, from Sketches: Concept to Illustration, Ideas on Paper: http://www.afingo.com/articles/sketches-concept-to-illustration-ideas-on-paper

Ghemawat, P., & Nueno, J. L. (2006, December 21). Havard Business School. Retrieved January 3, 2012, from Zara: Fast Fashion: http://www.carlospitta.com/courses/negocios%20internacionales%20y%20e-business/readings%20and%20papers/parte%209/zara%20%28harvard%20case%29.pdf

Harvard Business School. (2005, February 2). Retrieved January 3, 2012, from Zara's Secret for Fast Fashion: http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/4652.html

Hume, M. (2011, June 22). Fashion. Retrieved January 3, 2012, from The secrets of Zara's success: http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/article/TMG8589217/The-secrets-of-Zaras-success.html

Keeley, G., & Clark, A. (2008, August 11). The Guardian. Retrieved January 3, 2012, from Zara overtakes Gap to become world's largest clothing retailer: http://guardian.co.uk/business/2008/aug/11/zara.gap.fashion

Lariviere, M. (2011, March 14). The Operations Room. Retrieved January 3, 2012, from Some Numbers on Zara: http://operationsroom.wordpress.com/2011/03/14/some-numbers-on-zara/

Polyvore. (n.d.). Retrieved January 3, 2012, from Zara Coats 2011: http://www.polyvore.com/zara_coats_2011/thing?id=45287467

Prospects. (n.d.). Retrieved January 3, 2012, from Retail buyer : Job description: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/retail_buyer_job_description.htm

Retail Customer Experience.com. (2009, March 20). Retrieved January 3, 2012, from The Psychology of Color at Retail: http://www.retailcustomerexperience.com/article/3517/The-psychology-of-color-at-retail

Sovereign, R. (n.d.). Ezine Articles. Retrieved January 3, 2012, from Key Business Issues in Supply Chain Management: http://ezinearticles.com/?Key-Business-Issues-in-Supply-Chain-Management&id=1263097

The Attic People. (2011, February 17). Retrieved January 3, 2012, from Suno Fall 2011: http://theatticpeoplevintage.blogspot.com/2011/02/suno-fall-2011.html

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Wallop, H. (2011, September 21). The Telegraph. Retrieved January 3, 2012, from Zara owner's sales growth slows after strong first half: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/8779181/Zara-owners-sales-growth-slows-after-strong-first-half.html

Zara. (n.d.). Retrieved October 17, 2011, from http://www.zara.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/home/us/en/zara-us-W2011

Zara. (n.d.). Retrieved January 3, 2012, from Company: http://www.zara.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/category/uk/en/zara-W2011-r/11112/Company

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