Amancio Ortega – the founder of the fast fashion concept
Amancio Ortega is a legendary personality in the fashion industry. He owns such famous brands as Zara, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius and others. His fortune is estimated at 76.3 billion dollars, making the entrepreneur the richest man of the fashion world.
Amancio was born in 1936, he was the youngest of 4 children. His family was not wealthy, and at 13, the boy dropped out of school to earn money and help his parents. He worked as an assistant salesman in a studio, where he learned the basics of sewing shirts, a year later he moved to a more prestigious store, where he worked for 10 years and met his wife. During this period, he had the idea of making beautiful and quality clothing more accessible to ordinary people. After gaining experience in the textile industry, he quit his job and opened his own company, Confecciones GOA, in 1963. It was a family business located in Ortega’s home. His wife, brother and sister worked with him to create clothes.
Sewing was done by local seamstresses who worked at home, creating underwear, dresses, children’s clothing, as well as bathrobes and nightgowns. Business in the company was going well, until a major German customer in 1975, canceled the order. The company had already sewn the goods for him and did not know how to sell them. Then Amancio and his wife decided to open their own store to sell the products. Originally it was called Zorba, but later it was changed to Zara. The idea proved successful, and in 1985, Ortega registered a holding company Inditex and began opening stores in different cities in Spain. The first Zara boutique abroad was opened in 1988 in Portugal, one year later the store appeared in New York, and in 1990 in Paris. At the moment 60% of the revenue is provided by the market in Europe.
Amancio Ortega made a bet on accessibility and speed of production. Things were sewn in small batches, which ensured a regular change of assortment every two weeks, rather than once a season. In the future, this method would be called “fast fashion”.
Today, the Inditex holding company includes more than 7,400 boutiques, which are located in 96 countries. The company includes a huge number of brands of clothing, footwear, homeware and accessories. The leading brand remains Zara.
Amancio distinguishes two main principles of his company’s activity: to provide clients with what they want, and to do it faster than competitors. And judging by Inditex’s turnover, the businessman’s philosophy is working.
