Zara celebrates 50th anniversary with Steven Meisel video

May 9, 2025, marks the 50th anniversary of the opening of the first Zara store. Inditex and the fashion chain are celebrating this event with the renovation of the first store and the release of a video directed by Steven Meisel, featuring 50 iconic models, including Amber Valletta, Twiggy, Carla Bruni, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Marisa Berenson and Naomi Campbell. They are presenting the garments of a capsule collection commemorating Zara's 50th anniversary.

The first Zara store opened in La Coruña, Spain. This was Amancio Ortega's entry into retail after the success he had achieved with Confecciones GOA. The company, which specialised in the manufacture and distribution of textiles for third parties, was founded around 1963. With this company, the recognised Spanish entrepreneur decided to begin his own journey into the world of fashion and textiles, which would eventually serve as the nucleus for today's Inditex group.

The opening of the first Zara store marked a turning point in the company's development. At that time, it transitioned from a business-to-business model to a new retail model, where sales to end customers were the priority. Inditex is now exclusively dedicated to this model. The opening is therefore considered the starting point for the founding of the Spanish group and the foundation stone for Zara as a fashion chain.

Today, the Zara brand alone generates a turnover of 27.78 billion euros, has an online presence in 214 markets and is represented in 98 markets worldwide with 1,759 stores. These stores remain an important cornerstone in Zara's operating model. They serve not only as points of sale, but also as points of contact between the brand and its audience. Zara's audience influences the offering, diversification and fashion proposals.

Under the Zara concept, which Amancio Ortega presented on May 9, 1975, with the opening of the first store in the world, the foundations were laid for a chain that follows a philosophy in which the customer is at the centre of decision-making. This philosophy is based on attentively listening to customers' preferences in order to offer them high-quality products at affordable prices, as Zara explained in a statement.

Over the course of this first half-century, the chain has optimised the defence of this brand philosophy. It is now supported by the comprehensive and global analysis of sales and trends in all markets. Zara gains knowledge from this, which it incorporates into its collections via its more than 300 designers and its entire sales teams. This is the basis for a creative endeavour that is enriched by collaboration with renowned creators and designers.

As in the beginning, the company strives to offer customers a unique fashion experience in its stores around the world, which is now also integrated into the online channel. This makes it possible to interact with the brand at any time and from any device. The role that the physical store has played in the past and will play in the future for Zara is not forgotten. The stores have become projects in which architecture, design, building materials and historical references merge perfectly with state-of-the-art technology. All of this serves the philosophy that underlies Zara's operating model.

The heritage and present of the chain in its first 50 years are characterised by a creative flexibility that enables the collection to continue to evolve over the course of the season, an agile and efficient production and logistics capacity, a network of stores in the best locations, as well as an online platform and a shopping experience that is constantly adapting to customers' consumption patterns and habits, according to the company's management.

Pop-up experience in ‘new’ store in Juan Flórez

The place ‘where it all began’, the first Zara store in Juan Flórez Street in La Coruña, will play a prominent role in the chain's 50th anniversary celebrations.

To mark this anniversary, the store, which has been open to the public as another Zara sales outlet for the entire half-century, has undergone a comprehensive renovation and modernisation process. The result is a unique atmosphere inspired by the characteristic galleries with balconies that characterise the cityscape of La Coruña.

This architectural element has been integrated as the backbone of the renovation project for this store. It now houses a Zacaffé area as well as a library area with an extensive collection of magazines published from May 1975 to the present day. These are the most important immersive ‘experiences’ that this renovated store in Juan Flórez will offer customers. With this project, the store will be temporarily redesigned and will take on the character of a pop-up store for a limited time. This will be underlined by a ‘unique’ range of limited-edition pieces created to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of Zara.

“Five decades later, we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of this store and our brand by honouring the place where it all began,” Zara emphasised. To mark this anniversary, “a temporary intervention to mark the anniversary” was carried out, which was “inspired by the characteristic galleries of La Coruña, which are part of the city's architectural DNA”.

This characteristic element of the La Coruña landscape has now been integrated into this store in Juan Flórez. It is part of “an architectural installation that houses a unique selection of limited-edition pieces and objects created to mark the 50th anniversary of Zara”. The brand's customers “can also visit a cafeteria and a boutique salon, where they can browse shelves full of magazines”.

Anniversary collection

For the recording of this piece, other well-known and regular employees of Zara and Meisel were hired, including Karl Templer as stylist, Pat McGrath for make-up, Guido Palau for hair and Jason Duzansky for artistic direction.

The group of models, whose casting was led by Piergiorgio Del Moro, presents the pieces of a capsule collection for Zara's 50th anniversary. The collection contains counterpoints in white, but is based on the deepest black that characterises the traditional tuxedo. Zara is now presenting itself in its most deconstructed and feminine version to kick off the 50th anniversary celebrations with this capsule collection, which is already available in selected stores and in Zara's official online shop.

“Creativity is at the heart of Zara, it is the characteristic that sets us apart,” emphasised Marta Ortega Pérez, non-executive chairman of Inditex, at the launch of these first commemorative initiatives for Zara's 50th anniversary. The celebrations begin with the new collaboration with Steven Meisel. The photographer is responsible for directing “this incredible film”, Ortega added, which turns out to be “an expression of creative freedom and the magic we always want to create”.