Boycott Zara trends after latest ad campaign resembles Gaza genocide

Spanish clothing retailer Zara is facing public outrage for its latest advertising campaign, titled "The Jacket” after the images released have been found to bear similarities with the ongoing destruction and genocide in Gaza.

‘The Jacket’ is part of the brand's Atelier series, which it describes as "a limited-edition collection from the house celebrating our commitment to craftsmanship and passion for artistic expression".

Photographed by Tim Walker with art direction by French-American company Baron & Baron, the images feature American model Kristen McMenamy wearing a series of jackets in a stark white room, surrounded by wooden crates and concrete rubble.

The campaign features statues with missing limbs surrounded by rubble with McMenamy posing with mannequins covered in white cloth as well as clear and white plastic.

One image, which appears to have been deleted from the campaign on the Zara website and social media, depicts McMenamy wearing a studded leather jacket, with a mannequin hovering behind her wrapped in plastic.

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Social media users were quick to find that the images resembled the bodies of those killed in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. As the images went viral, many called for the boycott of Zara.

The firm has since deleted posts containing the images and is yet to issue a statement. From the series of images featuring the studded jacket, the only photograph that remains online is a close-up of the garment.

One of the users also alleged that one of the pieces of plasterboard in the background of the images is shaped like a map of Palestine, reports ArabNews.

"This is sick. What kind of sick, twisted and sadistic images am I looking at?" Melanie Elturk, chief executive of fashion brand Haute Hijab commented on Zara’s post.

Palestinian artist Hazem Harb also commented on the campaign and called for a boycott of the brand.

“Using death and destruction as a backdrop for fashion is beyond sinister, it’s complicity and should outrage us as consumers. Boycott Zara,” Harb wrote on Instagram.

Harb also shared footage of his 2008 video installation Burned Bodies, which was shown at the Citta dell'Altra Economia, Rome, and bears a resemblance to the Zara campaign.

Instagram influencers Dr Noor Amra and Dr Hina Cheema, who run the @eyegirlmd and @storyofstyle accounts, shared images of the Zara campaign in a joint post.

"We have all seen the devastating images of shrouded bodies coming out of Gaza ... It’s clearly a deliberate mock to Palestinians. They know exactly what they are doing," they wrote on Instagram.

Responding to their post, Mona Kattan, global president of Huda Beauty, wrote: "Sick."

In October, Israeli Arabs called for a boycott of the brand after its franchise owner hosted far-right political figure Itamar Ben Gvir for an election campaign event in Raanana, according to a report by Israeli news channel N12.

Videos also surfaced online showing people burning clothing sold by the fashion chain. Founded in Spain in 1975, Zara has more than 2,000 stores in more than 90 countries, with multiple outlets in the UAE.

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