Inditex has become the world’s largest fashion retailer. But how long can its dizzying expansion last?
By Tobias Buck, Financial Times, June 18, 2014
For the moment, the trenchcoat is a prototype, hanging on a clothes rack at Inditex´s sprawling headquarters in Arteixo, northern Spain. But Mr Ruyman Santos, one of the designers of the new garment, is confident it will be a success. Soft trenchcoats have sold well in recent months, so he knows the new creation will tap into a broader trend.
For Inditex, the biggest fashion retailer in the world, the success or failure of one trenchcoat is of marginal importance. It is just one of 18,000 individual designs made every year for its chain of Zara shops alone. Add in the group’s seven other brands – from upmarket Massimo Dutti to casual Pull & Bear – and the number rises to more than 30,000. The new coat is nothing but a tiny thread in a much bigger story – but one that illustrates how a small family-owned clothes manufacturer on the edge of Spain turned into one of the most striking corporate success stories of recent years.
The rise of Inditex holds valuable lessons….
