Inditex

---

title: "Inditex" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["inditex", "clothing-companies-of-spain", "companies-based-in-galicia-(spain)", "clothing-companies-established-in-1985", "spanish-companies-established-in-1985", "companies-in-the-euro-stoxx-50", "companies-listed-on-the-madrid-stock-exchange", "ibex-35", "multinational-companies-headquartered-in-spain", "2001-initial-public-offerings", "companies-of-spain"] description: "Spanish multinational clothing company" topic_path: "geography/spain" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inditex" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Spanish multinational clothing company ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]

Field	Value
name	Industria de Diseño Textil, S.A.
trade_name	Inditex
logo	[[File:Inditex logo black.svg
logo_size	250px
image	Sede de inditex arteixo.jpg
image_caption	Headquarters in Arteixo, Spain
type	Public company
traded_as
IBEX 35
ISIN
industry	Retail
predecessor
foundation	A Coruña, Galicia, Spain
()
founders	Amancio Ortega
Rosalía Mera
location_city	Arteixo, Galicia
location_country	Spain
locations	5,563 stores
area_served	Worldwide
key_people
products	Clothing & fashion
revenue	€38.63 billion (2024)
operating_income	€7.57 billion (2024)
net_income	€5.86 billion (2024)
assets	€34.71 billion (2024)
equity	€19.67 billion (2024)
owner	Amancio Ortega (59%)
num_employees	162,083 (2024)
subsid	Zara, Bershka, Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, Stradivarius, Oysho, Zara Home, Uterqüe, Lefties
homepage
footnotes
<ref name	"AR2019"{{Cite web
website	www.inditex.com}}
::

| name = Industria de Diseño Textil, S.A. | trade_name = Inditex | logo = [[File:Inditex logo black.svg|250px|class=skin-invert]] | logo_size = 250px | image = Sede de inditex arteixo.jpg | image_caption = Headquarters in Arteixo, Spain | type = Public company | traded_as = IBEX 35 | ISIN = | industry = Retail | predecessor = | foundation = A Coruña, Galicia, Spain () | founders = Amancio Ortega Rosalía Mera | location_city = Arteixo, Galicia | location_country = Spain | locations = 5,563 stores | area_served = Worldwide | key_people = | products = Clothing & fashion | revenue = €38.63 billion (2024) | operating_income = €7.57 billion (2024) | net_income = €5.86 billion (2024) | assets = €34.71 billion (2024) | equity = €19.67 billion (2024) | owner = Amancio Ortega (59%) | num_employees = 162,083 (2024) | subsid = Zara, Bershka, Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, Stradivarius, Oysho, Zara Home, Uterqüe, Lefties | homepage = | footnotes = |website=www.inditex.com}}}}Industria de Diseño Textil, S.A. (Inditex; , ; ) is a Spanish multinational clothing company headquartered in Arteixo, Galicia, Spain. The largest fast fashion group in the world, it operates over 7,200 stores in 93 markets worldwide. The company's predominant brand is Zara, but it also owns a number of other brands including Zara Home, Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Pull&Bear, Stradivarius, Uterqüe. The majority of its stores are corporate-owned, while franchises are mainly conceded in countries where corporate properties cannot be foreign-owned.

Inditex's business model emphasises fast response to market trends. The company has implemented a system that allows for frequent product updates in stores, with the process from design to retail shelf reportedly taking as little as 15 days in some cases. This approach contrasts with the longer production cycles typical of many traditional fashion companies.

The Uyghur Rights Monitor, Sheffield Hallam University, and the Uyghur Center for Democracy and Human Rights have accused the company of using Uyghur forced labour through the Chinese based textile supplier Beijing Guanghua Textile Group.

History

1960s and 1970s

In the early 1960s Amancio Ortega started his own business in the clothing industry while working for a local shirtmaker in A Coruña, Spain. Ortega began developing his designs and he and his wife Rosalia Mera started making clothes in their home. Amancio had saved up enough money to open a small factory and sold garments to his former employer, among others.

In 1975, the couple opened their first store, Zara, which produced popular fashion at low prices.

1980–2000

In the 1980s, the company implemented a new design and distribution method that drastically reduced the time between design, production, and arrival at retail sites. The system was designed by Castellano, who became the company's CEO in 1984. In 1985, Industria de Diseño Textil S.A. or Inditex was created as a holding company for Zara and its manufacturing plants. In 1988, the company began expanding internationally with the opening of a Zara store in Porto, Portugal. In 1990, the company-owned footwear collection, Tempe, populated in the children's section of Zara stores. In 1991, Inditex created the company Pull and Bear, a casual menswear company. Later that year, the company also acquired a 65 percent share in the upscale Massimo Dutti brand. Inditex created Lefties in 1993; the name is taken from the term leftovers, and it was created to sell old Zara clothing. In 1995, Inditex purchased the remaining Massimo Dutti shares and began expanding the brand to include a women's line. In 1998, Inditex launched the Bershka brand that was aimed at urban hip fashion. The company bought Stradivarius in 1999, a youthful female fashion brand.

2001–present

Inditex had its initial public offering (IPO) in 2001, on the Bolsa de Madrid. The IPO sold 26 percent of the company to public investors, the company was valued at €9 billion. The same year, the company launched the lingerie and women's clothing store Oysho.

In 2003, Inditex launched the Zara Home brand, which offers bedding, cutlery, glassware and other home decoration accessories. In 2004, with the opening of store number 2,000 in Hong Kong, Inditex had established its presence in 56 countries.

In 2005, CEO Jose Maria Castellano stepped down from the position to oversee expansion plans, he was replaced by Pablo Isla. Inditex launched Uterque in the summer of 2008, the brand specializes in women's accessories. During the same year, the company opened its 4,000th store in Tokyo after doubling in size within four years. After the 2013 Savar building collapse, Inditex was one of the thirty-eight companies who signed the Accord on Factory and Building Safety in Bangladesh.

As of 2019, Inditex is the biggest fashion retailer in the world by revenue.

The company's revenue fell by 18% to $1.85 billion in the final quarter of 2020, primarily due to the fall in retail sales as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Inditex's stocks fell by 12% over the year.

In May 2021, Inditex said that all its stores in Venezuela would close as it will review its agreement with its local partner, Phoenix World Trade.

In the three months to 30 April 2023, the group reported a 13% increase in sales to £6.54 billion and a 14% rise in profit to £3.96 billion.

Inditex announced plans to open 200 new Lefties stores across Europe, including the UK and France, in 2026. This expansion is part of the company’s efforts to grow its budget fashion segment.

International presence

In 1989, a year after entering Portugal, the company entered the U.S. market and expanded into France in 1990. By 1997, the company had expanded to Malta, Cyprus, Norway and Israel.

The company opened stores in Italy, Luxembourg and Jordan in 2001. In 2003, Inditex opened stores in Russia, Slovakia and Malaysia. In 2010, the company opened their 5,000th location in Rome In 2014, Inditex opened stores in Albania. In 2016, Inditex announced that they planned to open stores in Vietnam, New Zealand, Paraguay, Aruba and Nicaragua.

Online sales

In 2007, Inditex launched the Zara Home online retail store. Zara joined the e-commerce marketplace in September 2010, launching websites in Spain, the UK, Portugal, Italy, Germany and France. In November 2010, Zara's online presence grew to include Austria, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. In September 2011, Inditex brought Zara's e-commerce platform to the U.S., as well as adding the brands Pull and Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho and Uterqüe to the e-commerce space. As of February 2016, Inditex operates e-commerce sites in 28 markets and plans to add 12 more by April. In September 2018, Inditex announced to sell all its brands online by 2020, even in places where it does not own any stores.

Marketing strategy

Inditex avoids magazine advertising, with print campaigns only occurring on billboards in certain regions like U.S. and in-store. Endorsements for celebrities to wear its labels are budgeted instead. The company invests in commercial locations and uses window displays to increase visibility and product turnover.

Plagiarism

Zara has been accused of copying artwork.

In 2017, Zara Home Belgium was convicted of plagiarism by a Brussels Court, which was claimed to have been the first plagiarism conviction of a fast retailer.

Brands

Under the Inditex umbrella are several brands that offer a variety of products aimed at different markets. ::data[format=table]

Company	No. of stores	Year of creation	Market	Notes
Zara	1,759	1975	Fashion for men, women and children
Pull&Bear	800	1991	Clothing and accessories for young women and men
Massimo Dutti	528	1991 (acquired)	Clothing and accessories for young women and men
Lefties	177	1993	Affordable fashion	Active in eighteen markets: Andorra, Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Mexico, Oman, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates
Bershka	854	1998	Clothing and accessories for young women and men
Stradivarius	835	1999 (acquired)	Clothing and accessories for young women
Oysho	396	2001	Lingerie, casual outerwear, loungewear, gym wear & swimwear and original accessories for women
Zara Home	391	2003	Home goods and decoration objects
Uterqüe	82 (closed)	2008	Women's fashion accessories	Inditex integrated Uterqüe into Massimo Dutti in September 2021.
::

Corporate affairs

Board of directors

Bold indicates a company shareholder, and the representative will be listed below. ::data[format=table]

Member	Title(s)	Member Since	Shares Held	Notes
Marta Ortega	Chairwoman of Inditex	April 2022	42,511
Óscar García Maceiras	CEO of Inditex	November 2021	8,570
Jose Arnau Sierra	Deputy Chairman of Inditex
First Executive of Grupo Pontegadea
Director of GARTLER, S.L.
Member of the Board of Trustees of Fundacion Amancio Ortega Gaona	June 2012	30,000
Amancio Ortega	Founder & Board Member of Inditex	June 1985	1,848,000,315
Pontegadea Inversiones, S.L.
Ms. Flora Perez Marcote	Board Member of Inditex	December 2015
Baroness Kingsmill CBE	Board Member of Inditex
Member of the supervisory board of EON
Non-executive director of International Airlines Group SA
Chairman of Mondo
Member of the International Advisory Board of the Spanish Business School (IESE)	July 2016
Jose Luis Duran Schulz	Board Member of Inditex
Independent Director & Member of the Audit Committee of Orange	July 2015	3,106
Rodrigo Echenique Gordillo	Board Member of Inditex
Chairman of NH Hoteles	July 2014	20,000
Emilio Saracho Rodriguez de Torres	Board Member of Inditex
Head of Investment Banking of JPMorgan Europe, Middle East, & Africa, Ltd.
Executive Committee Member of Investment Bank
Executive Committee Member of JPMorgan Chase
Deputy-CEO of EMEA	June 2010
Pilar López Álvarez	Board Member of Inditex	July 2018	4,000
Anne Lange	Board Member of Inditex	July 2020
::

Ownership

The largest shareholders in early 2024 were: ::data[format=table]

Shareholder	Ownership stake (%)	Value in € bn.
Pontegadea Inversiones, S.L (Amancio Ortega)	50.1%	€68.9
Partler 2006 SL	9.3%	€12.8
Sandra Ortega Mera	5.06%	€7.0
Capital Research and Management Company	1.71%	€2.4
BlackRock, Inc.	1.41%	€1.9
The Vanguard Group, Inc.	1.33%	€1.8
Norges Bank Investment Management	1.01%	€1.4
Amundi Asset Management SAS	0.74%	€1.0
Fidelity International Ltd	0.45%	€0.625
Walter Scott & Partners Limited	0.32%	€0.442
::

Financial data

::data[format=table] | Financial data | title=Inditex Umsatz, Kennzahlen, Bilanz/GuV |url=https://www.finanzen.net/bilanz_guv/inditex |website=Finanzen.net |language=German}} | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Sales (in mn. €) | 26,145 | 28,286 | 20,402 | 27,716 | 32,569 | 35,947 | 38,632 | | Net profit (in mn. €) | 3,444 | 3,639 | 1,106 | 3,243 | 4,130 | 5,381 | 5,866 | | Total equity (in mn. €) | 21,684 | 28,391 | 26,418 | 28,945 | 29,983 | 32,735 | 34,714 | | Employees | 174,386 | 176,611 | 144,116 | 165,042 | 164,997 | 161,281 | 162,083 | ::

Sales by region

::data[format=table]

Region	2024 Sales in billion €	in %
Europe (excluding Spain)	20.7	53.5%
Americas	7.0	18.2%
Spain	6.2	16.1%
Asia and Rest of the World	4.7	12.2%
::

References

References

1. "Inditex Shareholder Structure". Inditex.
2. "Inditex Group Annual Report 2024". Inditex.
3. "Article - inditex.com".
4. "Financial Data". Inditex.
5. Butler, Sarah. (14 December 2013). "Inditex: Spain's Fashion Powerhouse You've Probably Never Heard Of". The Guardian.
6. "Inditex, king of fast fashion".
7. "International presence - inditex.com".
8. (9 March 2016). "Zara Owner Inditex Sees Profits Jump as Sales Soar". BBC.
9. (30 March 2015). "Inditex:Agile Fashion Force". Business of Fashion.
10. Frayer, Lauren. (12 March 2013). "The Reclusive Spanish Billionaire Behind Zara's Fast Fashion Empire". NPR.
11. (December 2023). "Tailoring Responsibility: Tracing Apparel Supply Chains from the Uyghur Region to Europe". Uyghur Rights Monitor, the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice at Sheffield Hallam University, and the Uyghur Center for Democracy and Human Rights.
12. "Amancio Ortega Gaona is One of the 500 People Shaping the Global Fashion Industry in 2018". The Business of Fashion.
13. Baigorri, Manuel. (15 August 2013). "Rosalia Mera, Who Was Spain's Richest Woman, Dies at 69".
14. Ozkurt, Tolga. (June 2024). "The Last Retail Evolution". Editrice Le Fonti.
15. Hansen, Suzy. (9 November 2012). "How Zara Grew Into the World's Largest Fashion Retailer".
16. Ryan, Orla. (23 May 2001). "Spain's Retail Success Story". BBC News.
17. "Company History". Tempe Groupo Inditex.
18. "Company History". Pull and Bear.
19. "Pull and Bear First UK Store". Fashion United.
20. Sowray, Bibby. (19 March 2014). "Lefties:The Zara Outlet You Never Knew About". The Telegraph.
21. (1998). "Annual Report Massimo Dutti". Inditex.
22. "Bershka About". Inditex.
23. "Industria de Diseno Textil S.A. History". Funding Universe.
24. (29 April 2015). "Inditex Sets IPO Price Range Amid Strong Market Demand". The Wall Street Journal.
25. Heller, Richard. (28 May 2001). "Inside Zara".
26. "About Oysho". FashionBi.
27. Loeb, Walter. (30 March 2015). "Zara Leads in Fast Fashion".
28. Barker, Barbara. (16 June 2003). "Spanish Clothing Manufacturer Inditex Enters New Territory With Zara Home". Home Furnishing Network.
29. Gomez, Luis. (14 August 2012). "The Man Who Dresses the World". El Pais.
30. Crawford, Leslie. (26 September 2005). "Castellano Steps Down From Inditex". Financial Times.
31. Moreau, Raphael. (22 September 2008). "Retail in Practice:H&M and Inditex's Global Expansion Strategies". European Supermarket Magazine.
32. Tartaglia, Lisa. (18 April 2011). "Zara's Australian Entrance to Challenge Local Retailers". The Conversation.
33. (13 May 2013). "Fashion Chains Sign Accord to Help Finance Safety in Bangladesh Factories". The Guardian.
34. "Fast Retailing overcomes H&M as world's second-largest fashion retailer".
35. (2020-12-15). "Inditex Profit Drops as Consumers Spend Less in Second Lockdowns". Bloomberg.com.
36. (2021-05-22). "Zara owner Inditex to close all stores in Venezuela, local partner says".
37. Wright, Georgia. (2023-06-07). "Zara owner Inditex's profits continue to soar as it eyes 'strong growth opportunities' - Retail Gazette".
38. (2023-06-07). "Zara-owner Inditex enjoys strong start to summer". Reuters.
39. "Inditex to launch 200 Lefties stores across Europe in 2026". Europe Real Estate.
40. Lauren Sherman. (24 March 2015). "America's Favorite Foreign Retailers".
41. (24 April 2003). "Fashion Chain Zara Reclaims the Glory of Spain". Wharton University of Pennsylvania.
42. "Inditex: Our History". Inditex.
43. Saumya Roy. (29 July 2010). "Fast Fashion: Zara in India".
44. Lukasz Izakowski. (3 April 2014). "Inditex Enters the Albanian Market". Retail Net.
45. (12 July 2015). "Zara Home to Launch its Online Platform in Australia". Retail News Asia.
46. Sarah Morris. (18 March 2015). "Zara-Owner Inditex to Trim Investment After Strong Sales". Reuters.
47. Lauren Sherman. (9 June 2010). "Zara Will Finally Offer E-Commerce, But Not to US Customers". Fashionista.
48. Christopher Bjork. (22 September 2010). "Zara Tries a Fast One on the Net". Wall Street Journal.
49. Allison Enright. (6 September 2011). "Zara Launches E-Commerce Operations in the U.S.". Internet Retailer.
50. Olivier Guyot. (18 September 2011). "Inditex Repartriates its E-commerce Services". Fashion Mag.
51. (18 March 2015). "Zara Owner Inditex Profits up 5%". BBC.
52. Alonso, Triana. (14 December 2015). "Inditex to Consolidate Its E-commerce Business in 2016". Fashion Mag.
53. (4 February 2016). "Inditex Launches New Online Stores in Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania and Sweden Today". Inditex.
54. ((Reuters Editorial)). "Zara owner Inditex to sell all its brands online by 2020". U.S..
55. CNBC. (2018-09-04). "Zara owner Inditex to sell all its brands online by 2020". CNBC.
56. (25 July 2016). "Zara stealing designs copying independent artists".
57. "Zara Home co-opts design by Flemish artisan {{!}} Flanders Today".
58. Bradshaw, Lisa. (2017). "Belgian artisan wins Zara plagiarism court case".
59. "Limburgse houtsnijder dwingt Zara op de knieën".
60. (4 July 2017). "Vlaamse houtsnijder dwingt modeketen Zara op de knieën".
61. Nederlandstalige Rechtbank van Koophandel Brussel [https://freiherrvonquast.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/rechtbank-van-koophandel-brussel-19-juni-2017-iefbe-2368-familiewapen-tegen-zara-home.pdf Read online]
62. "Limburgse houtsnijder dwingt Zara op de knieën".
63. "Our History - inditex.com".
64. Martinez, Jaime. (2021-09-15). "Inditex integrará Uterqüe en Massimo Dutti".
65. "Our Board - inditex.com".
66. "Industria de Diseño Textil, S.A. Insider Trading & Ownership Structure".
67. "Inditex Umsatz, Kennzahlen, Bilanz/GuV".
68. "INDITEX: Business Segments and Geographical Breakdown of Revenue".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::