Zara campaign faces backlash over alleged resemblance to Gaza images

BARCELONA

Spanish fashion giant Zara has recently faced calls for a boycott after its recent fashion campaign drew criticism for its alleged resemblance to images from war-torn Gaza.

A large number of social media users accused the retailer of insensitivity towards deaths in Gaza after images from the fashion shoot featured mannequins with missing limbs and a model in a wooden box and surrounded by rubble.

Other images, which now appear to have been removed from the firm's Instagram page following the mounting criticisms, show supermodel Kirsten McMenamy posing with mannequins wrapped in white cloth and plastic.

Some users said they were similar to the photos taken in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war, of dead bodies wrapped in white shrouds.

The campaign for the fashion giant quickly received a wave of backlash online, with posts branding it “shameful,” “disgusting” and a “mockery,” with #BoycottZara trending on X.

Some others criticized the brand for using "Palestinian deaths as a marketing strategy."

Artist Hazem Harb wrote in an Instagram post: “There is a sinister depravity in the commercial mind that produced this ad, while we are living a real time genocide.”

“Using death and destruction as a backdrop for fashion is beyond sinister, its complicity and should outrage us as consumers. Boycott Zara.”

Zara, yet to make a statement on the matter, responded to the backlash by removing certain photos, including the one featuring the model draped in shroud-like fabric, from their social media posts. This isn't the first time the brand has faced condemnation related to the Israel-Palestine conflict. In October 2022, Palestinians initiated a boycott campaign after Zara's Israeli distributor declared support for the extremist "Jewish Forces" party.