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Zara is taking cues from Kanye West and that's bothering some people

Mallory Schlossberg   

Zara is taking cues from Kanye West and that's bothering some people
Retail2 min read

Zara Streetwise

Zara

Zara's Streetwise collection.

Zara is taking cues from Kanye West, with its Streetwise collection.

This isn't the first time Zara has pulled drawn its designs from West; in January, Racked reported that it knocked off his Yeezy 750 Boosts.

But, it is drawing some fire from the fashion press. High Snobiety, for example, described it as a total rip-off of the Yeezy line. 

The problem with this complaint, of course, is that taking ideas from high-end designers is pretty much what fast fashion retailers do. 

That's pretty much the main point of shopping at a place like a Zara, H&M, or Forever 21. After all, Kanye West's prices are famously exorbitant - even if he did drop the prices slightly for his latest season.

Zara in particular is known for its fast fashion model, wherein it sells runway inspired apparel at affordable prices with a rapid supply chain. In fact, analysts have called it "the best business model in apparel" and its parent company, Inditex, has become a power player in the retail industry, rendering its founder, Amancio Ortega, the second richest man in the world

But in the fast fashion world, there's a fine line for what's "ripping something off" and what's just a kind nod to the source; Jezebel ferociously took down Forever 21 in 2011 for getting away with blatantly stealing high-end designs by paying those who accuse them of doing so once an accusation arises.

Zara Streetwise

Zara

Zara's Streetwise collection.

 

Yeezy 2

JP Yim/Getty Images

Yeezy Season 3.

 

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