Feature: Zara Spring Collection

As some of you might already know I gave up buying clothes for lent as I had far too many and was aquiring clothes for the sake of it.  So for 40 days I wanted to see if I could survive without buying any clothes, shoes, bags or even accessories and so far so good, only 1 week and 4 days to go! For this reason I have been getting my clothing fix from online window shopping and I have been looking at shops I would never normally go in and yesterday I stumbled across the Zara website (www.zara.com).
I always found Zara quite dull and overpriced, and I also found the stores a little daunting as they are always huge and spread out! However, I quite like some of the new collection as shown in their April Lookbook as shown below but first some interesting facts:

Founded: 1975 by Amancio Ortega and Rosalia Mera.
Originated from: Galicia, Spain
Products: Clothing for men, women & children

About: Zara controls every step on the supply chain from design, manufacture and distribution. 50% of products are manufactured in Spain, 26% in the rest of Europe, and 24% in Asian and African countries and the rest of the world. It produces upto 11,000 product lines every year comapred to between 2,000-4,000 of other similar retailers. It has a quick turn around and products can be on the shelf within 2 weeks making it a quick fashion chain, this means it sells products that are already popular rather than promoting upcoming fashion trends. If a certain design doesn't sell in week, it can be withdrawn from shops and production stopped. Certain fashion-forward designs could be on the shelves for only 4 weeks making Zara customers return to the store regularly. If you want to read more there are loads of great articles on business sites about their success including this one here.

 April Look Book

Some of these pieces arn't currently available but I'm looking forward to paying a visit to the store and maybe trying a few things on as they alway look different in real life! I also had a scoot round the rest of the site and found some other great pieces. I noticed that there was a contrasting mix of neutrals and brights so moving between the winter and summer styles but most items were quite plain and great for mixing and matching which I love to be able to do.

 I was especially keen on some of the trousers as a lot of them are the sort of skinny/straight leg style and the tops and shirts tend to be slouchy and casual so will look great together for day to day wear. I would really like to get some trousers in different colours although Im not sure I would be brave enough for the bright pink ones in the middle! My favourite item shown here would probably be first dress which is a gorgeous colour and the pleats look really flattering.

I also took a look at the shoes and I even came across these clog style shoes that are not rediculously high. If your read yesterday's post you will know I am currently hunting for some!

 I also found these great flats which I think will be so useful this summer as they are kind of similar to some I have in black which I wear all the time!

And finally, these beauties, I can't wear heels but if I could I would certainly be having these!

So let me know what you think of Zara and their latest collection?

Alyssa xx