As we’ve blogged previously, Zara, the Spain-based global apparel retailer that is part of Inditex, is on quite a roll. It is now the largest fashion retail chain in the world.

Suzy Hansen, reporting for the New York Times, notes that: “Inditex is a pioneer among ‘fast fashion’ companies, which essentially imitate the latest fashions and speed their cheaper versions into stores. Every one of Inditex’s brands — Zara, Zara Home, Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Stradivarius, Pull & Bear, and Uterqüe — follow the Zara template: trendy and decently made but inexpensive products sold in beautiful, high-end-looking stores. Zara’s prices are similar to those of the Gap: coats for $200, sweaters for $70, T-shirts for $30. Inditex now makes 840 million garments a year and has around 5,900 stores in 85 countries, though that number is always changing because Inditex has in recent years opened more than a store a day, or about 500 stores a year. Right now there are around 4,400 stores in Europe, and almost 2,000 in Spain alone.”

Click the photo to access Hansen’s full story.

Pedro Guimarães for the New York Times