Fifty pioneering creatives from worlds spanning design, fashion, beauty, film and photography have created products to celebrate the high-street retailer Zara’s 50th birthday. From a shiny silver desk lamp to a warm winter parka coat and a green ceramic vase, the items are intended to be collectors’ items for the home or wardrobe.
The creatives involved were given free rein to design an item for the anniversary, in the latest initiative to spotlight creativity and artistry at Zara, which is known for its successful line of designer collaborations. Each piece sums up an individual’s aesthetic.
‘It is an honour that these artists have chosen to mark our birthday with us in this way,’ says Marta Ortega Pérez, non-executive chair of Zara’s parent company, Inditex. ‘Each is a leader of their field, in terms of imagination, innovation and integrity. They share the same passions as Zara has since the beginning: quality of craft and the joy of design.’
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The resulting designs range from Pedro Almodóvar’s eclectic T-shirt, which features images from the Spanish director’s best-loved films in a montage to British set designer Es Devlin’s lamp – a white cube cast in solid concrete that has an ocular opening to allow light to filter through on one side and a vertical light aperture carved into another. The lamp allows customers to take home a slice of her large-scale installations. Elsewhere, Norman Foster has unveiled a pair of sleek brown Italian leather laptop bags that will no doubt be popular among the metropolitan Zara shopper.
The 50-piece collection will launch to the public during Paris Fashion Week at a week-long pop-up shop from 2 October. Curated by Sarah Andelman, the store will not only showcase the new designs, but become a multi-functional space, where visitors can listen to talks and refuel in the café space by popular food collective We Are Ona.
All proceeds from the range will go towards the Women’s Earth Alliance, a non-profit women-led organisation that aims to protect the environment, as well as being matched by Zara – the firm will also donate €20,000 euros to 50 charitable organisations chosen by the collaborators.
Zara was founded in 1975 by Amancio Ortega in A Coruña, Spain, where the brand is still based. This is just one of several collaborative initiatives it has launched as part of its commitment to making work by the world’s best design and creative talent accessible to the many rather than the few. Past examples include a Zara Home collection designed by Vincent Van Duysen and an immersive pop up store in Shoreditch, which marked the launch of its first homeware series.
