Spanish village scenes adorn Zara's latest T-shirt collection

SPAIN'S most international clothing firm has started showcasing village scenes on its T-shirts – lending a new slant to the term 'high-street fashion'.

As yet, it is not clear whether Zara plans to expand to cover more towns, or the existing ones on the Inditex empire's star brand are the end of the story; neither is it immediately obvious where the pictures on the white short-sleeved tops actually are.

It was the mayor of Vejer de la Frontera (Cádiz province), Francisco Manuel Flor Lara, who noticed his own town on a T-shirt sold by the low-cost womenswear store, answering shoppers' question about one of those featured, at least.

He took to social media to express his delight.

“Zara is selling a T-shirt around the world with a photo of Vejer. Yes, just like that: One of the main fashion stores nationally and globally, Zara, has put a top on sale with a photo of Vejer on it,” Flor Lara wrote on Facebook.

He was even able to clarify for its wearers which street was emblazoned across them.

“It's the beautiful C/ Trafalgar, with its trademark white house and terracotta roof tiles, and the Bar Trafalgar. 

“Perhaps you don't realise just how much this means, but for Zara to choose Vejer is very significant indeed,” the mayor concluded.

The picture of the narrow, cobbled lane rising up a hill will do more for Vejer de la Frontera – and probably the province of Cádiz – than the national government's multi-billion 'recovery plan' in terms of repairing economic damage caused by the pandemic: Although Vejer is popular with tourists and local visitors, being one of southern Spain's traditional picture-postcard white villages, the outbreak of Covid-19 and movement restrictions over the past year and a half means those who rely on day-trippers and holidaymakers for their income are finding it hard to make ends meet.

But now a quaint image of it appears on T-shirts sold on almost every continent, the free advertising Vejer has been handed on a plate could be a major turning point.

Only one other town, so far, has been featured on a Zara T-shirt, but given the thrilled and proud reaction of the mayor of Vejer, it is just possible the company will decide to use its influence to showcase more of them.

The second location shown on the tops on sale has not yet been identified – at least not publicly – but the style of architecture, including the trademark wooden balconies, has led to suspicions that it could be somewhere along mainland Spain's northern coastal strip, made up of the regions of Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque Country.

If it is your town, or you have visited it, you might like to tell everyone on social media about it and solve the mystery.

The two designs of the T-shirts form part of Zara's 'Join Life' collection, which follows standards set by Inditex itself to ensure its clothing, retail, delivery and manufacturing processes are as sustainable and planet-friendly as possible.

These standards include using recycled materials for garments and packaging, renewable sources where they cannot, and 'green' energy for physical stores and delivery vehicles, along with a 'zero waste' policy and a conscious attempt to use as little water as possible in making its wares.

‘Join Life’ pieces carry a label confirming their kind-to-the-environment policy and explaining how it works.

Many of Inditex's other brands follow similar practices - although Zara is the most globally-famous, the fashion giant run by Spain's richest man, Amancio Ortega, also includes a younger and slightly cheaper version, Bershka; the rock-chick low-budget chain Stradivarius; streetwear and casuals firm Pull&Bear; bargain basics Lefties; mid-upper high-street classics and neutrals label Massimo Dutti; élite high-street elegant workwear and eveningwear brand Uterqüe; underwear chain Oysho, and quality interiors store Zara Home.

The tops are not, in fact, easy to find on the store's website, although they do form part of the current AW21 collection – but a simple internet search for 'Zara photo print T-shirt' will show a link to Zara.com with both versions.