Is Zara Atelier really luxury? Six coats to reposition the world's most popular brand
Two days ago, Zara presented a new label, Zara Atelier, with a capsule called 01_The Coat Collection. It is a collection of six coats that, according to the Inditex brand, should celebrate «high-end design and exquisite craftsmanship» in what many publications have already called a tribute to couture and luxury. The new collection, presented with a campaign shot by Paolo Roversi, represents a further step forward of the giant Inditex towards its absorption of luxury codes, which we had already described in an article a few weeks ago. It is said "absorption of luxury codes" and not "repositioning" because, even if the brand speaks of «elevated, artistic interpretation of an iconic wardrobe staple», the garments in the collection would seem more oriented to look like luxury than to be luxury.
Nevertheless, Zara remains the only brand on the fast fashion scene to have the distribution and financial power to set up a similar restructuring: if this Atelier collection focuses everything on decorations and opulence (to the point of being defined by Andrea Batilla on Instagram as a "remake" of Dries Van Noten), the Origins collection launched a few months ago with a video by Aphex Twin beat the road of ultra-minimalist luxury, with single-color hoodies in 100% cashmere, suede jackets and ultra-minimal total look designed to capture the attention of the other side of the luxury audience – the one that goes in search of simplicity and subtle and discreet opulence. One would almost wonder if Zara is aiming to redefine itself as a luxury: the answer is no. The luxury market is already ultra-saturated and that of the high street, on the other hand, represents a much wider territory full of commercial opportunities – the new challenge, however, comes from the final consumer: increasingly sophisticated, attentive to the signs of sustainability, to the external appearances of luxury, to the methods of communication of products and collections. Finding, identifying and satisfying this new consumer will be the key to the success of Zara, and all other fast fashion and non-fast fashion brands, in the decades to come.
