Inditex’s Zara unveils new logo, causes internet uproar

Fast-fashion firm Inditex has revealed a logo for its retail chain Zara, in a bid to digitally-streamline the Spanish brand. The Catalan-based Zara unveiled its new branding — designed by the Baron & Baron agency — across its social media channels, including Instagram, as well as online via its website and e-global e-commerce platforms. The capitalised, four-letter brand ‘ZARA’ has been changed to read as a more tightly kerned (‘kerning’ the space between letters in print), overlapping design.

Moreover, a curve has been added to the bottom of the Z and the R, making the text slightly difficult to read.

Soon after the new logo was revealed, social media users took to their Twitter accounts, blasting the branding choice.

“Whoever is responsible for the new Zara logo, I just want to talk,” one person wrote.

“This new Zara logo is wrong in so many aspects that it’s hard to synthesise in one tweet. Nonsense kerning, absurd letter spacing, lack of uniqueness,” said another.

The Inditex-owned retailer has not changed its logo since 2010. However, back then, the update was more accepted by consumers, as it was similar to the decades-old brand’s previous one.

Baron & Baron, whose founder, Fabien Baron, is known for this kind of compressed, overlapping spacing, has previously helped design the typography for a wide range of fashion brands, from Dior to Coach to Bottega Veneta.

The new comes as many luxury brands have jilted their heritage logos for more Millennial-minded fonts. Such a rebranding strategy has led to firms changing to simpler sans-serif and bold logos, as seen with luxury houses such as Burberry and Balenciaga, as well as Hedi Slimane’s Celine.

Inditex sales increased to €18.43 million, in the first nine months of 2018, representing a 3% increase on the same period the prior year.

The group’s third quarter was marked by the global development of its integrated strategy, which aims ti combine the physical and online experience for shoppers.