"Following the tracks of a Zara hoody", November 2019

... We followed the tracks of a [Zara "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" slogan] hoody’s production and didn’t give up until we had found the Turkish factories where it was produced. Our conclusion: even for Zara’s [sustainable] ‘Join Life’ line... the price pressure on producers is so immense that ultimately those who pay the highest price for Inditex’s profit are the people who make the business possible in the first place – the factory workers...

Our field research shows that the pricing pressure that Zara exerts... [on producers] has ramifications on those who Zara claims are “at the centre” – the factory workers. Fashion chains like Inditex have the power to push down prices because of their high sourcing volumes 

We hear about monthly wages... only about a third of... an actual living wage... [and] excessively long working hours...

The main conclusions of...[distribution of the supply chain costs and earnings] calculations are...:

• ...[Zara/Inditex] sells the ‘Respect’ hoody at... just under 27 euros... [T]he firm makes 4.20 euros in (pre-tax) profit on each hoody.

• The income and wages of all the workers involved in production... totalled an estimated 2.08 euros... less than half of the profit that Zara makes.

• For the workers... to be able to life off their wages, their pay would need to be multiplied by a factor of 1.9 – 3 depending on the stage of production. Nevertheless, the difference per hoody would only equate to 3.62 euros – slightly less than what Inditex alone earns from each item.