Zara, the flagship brand of Spanish fashion giant Inditex, is strengthening its position in the growing and highly resilient sportswear sector with the launch of its first sportswear collection for women. A collection geared towards outdoor activities, specifically designed for the practice of high-impact outdoor sports such as cycling or climbing.
The new collection is marketed under the name Zara “Outdoor” and can already be found among new women’s fashion items online, in stores and on the Zara app. The collection will be offered globally in select markets including Spain, UK, USA, France, Italy and Germany, strengthening the traditional fashion offering.
Zara brought in a team of ambassadors to showcase the performance and quality of the garments in the new collection. They include Spanish influencer, YouTuber and cycling enthusiast Sami Sauri and French climber of Icelandic origin Svana Bjarnason. Both were responsible for personally testing the behavior and technical resistance of all the garments while practicing their sports.
Collaboration with Tenaya
The collection was developed in collaboration with Spanish outdoor specialists Tenaya, founded by Spanish mountaineer and sailing world champion Jose Luis Garcia Gallego. It offers a range of versatile cycling clothing, including various t-shirts, sweatshirts, high-waisted shorts with side pockets, khaki green pants-effect shorts, as well as a fitted crew-neck zip-up windbreaker and a jumpsuit with straps.
The clothing items specially designed for climbing include a set of leggings and top in animal print or lime green, a tank top, long trousers with elastic waistband and a set of high-waisted shorts and tank top in fuchsia pink. Completing the range of climbing apparel is a sweatshirt in collaboration with Tenaya in lime green with the brand’s logo in fuchsia pink on the back.
Accessories such as hats with and without ear flaps, a rectangular belt bag, a scarf, an adjustable fleece collar and a cylindrical bag, which is particularly suitable for long climbs, complete the collection. Likewise, there are two models of shoes from the Tenaya brand – a mountaineering boot and a climbing shoe.
The brand only launched its sportswear line Zara Athleticz in autumn 2021 in response to the current sportswear boom. This has since been integrated into the men’s range, while the Oysho label is aimed at women and thus competes with sports brands such as Lululemon’s Athletica or Gaps Athleta.
The initial intention of both Zara and Inditex to enter the sportswear sector is, firstly, to create their own niche in this field and, secondly, to underline that the sports activities practiced by women go beyond light sports and that Zara is ready to respond to this demand.
Now it remains to be seen how the company will develop this new line and if it will end up being just an anecdotal collection or if it will evolve with its own identity and reach the same level as Zara Athleticz as part of menswear.
This article originally appeared on FashionUnited.es. Translated from English and edited by Simone Preuss.