Introduction

ZARA

With approximately 600 of its own shops, ZARA is one of the world's most successful fashion names. The designers of ZARA stores work closely with ERCO in order to actualise a uniform "corporate light" concept at all shop locations.

Architect:
Jordi Bernardó

Lighting designer:
Doris Bäumler

Photographer:
Thomas Mayer, Neuss

Place:
Barcelona, New York

Lighting solutions

ZARA is the most important brand in the portfolio of Inditex, one of the world's largest textile groups. A network, originating from the headquarters in the Spanish town of La Coruña in 1975, has since expanded to over 1500 stores in 44 countries - 600 of which are under the ZARA label.

The international success of ZARA is based on unusual concepts: on the one hand, there is a strict, logical "verticalisation", i.e. all value-added stages from manufacture to retail are integrated within the company; on the other, is a communication strategy that completely does without any printed advertising, relying instead on uniform shop architecture and "corporate light" to create the brand's typical shopping experience at the point of sale.

Photos: ZARA Barcelona branch, Avda. Puerta del Angel

The ZARA branches are uniformly designed by a central design department and are an important building block for the brand image. Highly streamlined planning processes and focused purchasing achieve a level of design and execution that is visibly higher than what would be expected considering the product pricing and the "teen-tween" target group.

ERCO supplies standardised lighting tools for ZARA worldwide: typical are the recessed ceiling luminaires, each consisting of a group of two Lightcast downlights with metal halide lamps for efficient general lighting with high visual comfort and one Gimbal directional luminaire with a low-voltage halogen lamp for accent lighting.

The shop windows play a special role in ZARA's brand communication. For each collection the headquarters produce new display designs, which are then implemented on site. ZARA has developed its own reduced "brand-language", whereby mannequins are dramatically grouped together under scenic lighting against neutral backdrops. This creates striking, uniform images, allowing the company to do without expensive printed advertising campaigns.

The tools used by ZARA worldwide for this scenographic shop window lighting are: Quinta spotlights for low-voltage halogen lamps - always in versions with flood or spot reflectors - mounted on 3-circuit tracks. In the brand's flagship stores in particularly prominent locations, a lighting control from ERCO is additionally used for light scene management and dynamic effects.

Photos:
Left, centre: ZARA New York branch, Lexington Ave.
Right: ZARA Barcelona branch, Avda. Puerta del Angel