Zara is one of the best luxury clothing and footwear brand in the market. I love how fancy their stores look. And it’s not just their elegant outfits that attract customers to their stores but their shoes are quite fashionable and stylish.
Whenever I come across a Zara store, I am always tempted to look at some of their latest footwear. And in my experience, Zara isn’t quite consistent when it comes to the use of leather in their shoes.
You would think that a certain shoe is made of leather because of its price tag only for you to find that it actually isn’t.
This is information that you may want to use wisely if you prefer to shop online. Other than that, I do find their shoes better even than other popular brands.
Are Zara shoes good? If you can spare a minute and browse through their collection on their website, you will get an answer right away.
This is a company that uses the ‘fast fashion’ model. That is, they offer trendy footwear designs to mainstream consumers at affordable prices.
Despite some people alleging that Zara leans more towards clothing instead of footwear, it is obviously not true. In this article, I am going to look into some of the things that make Zara shoes good.
Let’s Start with Some History
Ranked as the 29th best global brand, Zara is dedicated to manufacturing and delivering quality footwear to their clients. It was founded as a family business in 1975 by Amancio Ortega and Rosalia Mera in Galicia, Spain.
When starting off, the store mostly stocked lookalike footwear of popular brands that were sold at a lower price. Ortega kept running the family business using the fast fashion model and it gained a lot of traction in Spain.
By 1983, Zara opened 9 new stores in Spain. This move saw an increase in demand for Zara footwear and Ortega incorporated a holding company, Inditex to boost production and distribution of footwear.
With Ortega still in charge, newer designs of footwear were created and made available at affordable prices to consumers in the US, France, Sweden, and other countries in the world.
As we speak, there are more than 7400 Zara stores found in at least 100 countries. This growth has taken the Ortega family to newer heights and they have invested heavily in real estate and opened other brands such as Oysho, Massimo Dutti, and Zara Home.
Back to how great Zara shoes are; How Do they Look and Feel?
When the Sock-Style Balenciaga sneakers were trending two years ago, all my friends owned a pair. They were so expensive back then and I wasn’t really killing at work, so I had to improvise.
I bought Zara’s sock-style sneakers at a third of the cost of Balenciagas. Because it was a lookalike, I didn’t have much expectations for the shoe. You should have seen my face when I was surprised by the shoe’s quality and durability.
Zara shoes look perfect. The stitching is done properly, the soles are well-fitted and even the laces are intact. It is nearly impossible for you to spot something wrong with Zara shoes. They feel smooth to touch and when worn, you can be assured of total comfort.
If you decide to get a leather shoe, what will be delivered will be real leather. You can confirm that by confirming if it’s supple and smells like leather. At a lower price, you can always get synthetic leather from Zara as well.
The company is also keen on practicality and functionality. The accessories that are fitted into their shoes such as zippers and laces are of high quality as well. The shoes are designed to conform to the shape of feet and I love how they pay attention to detail.
Depending on the type of Shoe, Zara ensures that you get value for your money. For example, the sock-style sneaker that I got as an alternative to the Balenciaga’s looked quite fashionable.
The shoe was lightweight and the sole was tough. I used my Zara sneakers mostly for running errands because they were stylish and functional.
I never felt any form of discomfort when wearing those shoes. Hey, they are still somewhere in my shoe rack. Not that they wore out but because they became so common.
What about Comfort?
Whether you decide to go with leather or synthetic, Zara shoes become more comfortable with time, even their heels. They have a slight break in window where the leather softens up.
Most Zara shoes feature an adequate amount of padding that ensures the shoe offers comfort when walking or sitting.
These are the kind of shoes that you can wear all day long without feeling uncomfortable. I wouldn’t recommend Zara sneakers, flats, and sandals for workouts because they aren’t built for that.
How’s the Quality of Zara Shoes?
Despite looking so good and being so comfortable, I would rank Zara shoes to be the best in terms of quality. There are other brands that have surpassed it by far.
If you are considering getting a pair from Zara, be assured of getting value for your money if the trend is your major concern.
As mentioned earlier, Zara does use both leather and synthetic materials. With the latter, they prefer to use harder synthetic materials so that their shoes can breathable.
As we all know, breathability is a key factor when shopping for footwear and there is no doubt that Zara shoes are quite breathable.
The overall quality of their shoes is decent. Despite focusing on both clothing and footwear, the company does dedicate its resources to providing quality footwear at affordable prices.
If high quality is what you are after, I would recommend looking at another shoe brand. It’s also important to note that the more quality a shoe is, the higher its price tag would be.
And because Zara is into fast fashion, most of their footwear is built according to the latest trends and designs. Because of this rapid process, the quality happens to be slightly above average.
Because of the quality materials used, Zara shoes are quite durable. My Zara sneakers have been alive and kicking for the past two years and they are still in great shape.
Even though I haven’t worn them for a while, when I first bought them, I wore them thrice a week for 6 months straight.
Reasons Why Zara Shoes are Good?
I have scoured the internet and compiled some of the key reasons why Zara shoes are so good. I have also added some reasons which are related to my personal experience with the brand.
- Ever since its inception, Zara has retained full commitment towards manufacturing quality and trendy footwear.
- They are one of the few footwear brands that keep up with the latest fashion. Now, I don’t know how Zara does it but we can all agree that the company is always at par with customer trends. Be it a new sneaker model, or a trendy heel design, Zara will have them in stock. And they don’t just manufacture cheap imitations, all Zara shoes boast an impressive design and build.
- The owner came up with the term ‘fast fashion’. All brands today are talking about how they follow the fast fashion model. However, if it wasn’t for the brilliant Ortega, we would still have to wait for months before we can wear a shoe that you had spotted on a fashion runway or with a celebrity. Thanks to fast fashion, we can all get our hands on trendy footwear as soon as we see it. Heck, you could be at a beauty pageant and order a certain shoe even before the model who is wearing it leaves the stage. And as if creating a model by himself isn’t enough, at Zara you can find all styles and designs.
- Thanks to Zara’s fast distribution and huge availability of chain stores, sourcing footwear from this brand is easy. With Zara, you can hop onto the fashion bandwagon before it fades because all shoe designs are available in their stores. You can also shop online.
- Other than bringing you quality footwear, Zara sells their shoes at reasonable prices. Despite what ‘experts’ say, the price remains to be a crucial factor for the average footwear shopper. Why pay more, when you can get quality, durability, and style from a footwear brand like Zara?
How Do Zara Shoes Fit?
Zara shoes fit differently because they are made in different countries. Other than that, factors such as shoe type and height of the heel contribute immensely in determining how the shoe fits.
With so many stores all over the world, I would recommend the best place for you to get the right Zara shoe size is at their official store.
There you can try several numbers and get the right fit. If you intend on buying online, kindly check the following Zara shoe sizing guide.
My Zara shoes fitted me perfectly. However, my number one rule for shopping is to always go half a size up. Most customers agree that Zara shoes are true to size.
There are also a good number of reviews that say Zara shoes run small. Before making a purchase, measure your feet length.
Confirm which shoe size you should order on the Zara shoe sizing chart and make your purchase. You can always return the shoe if it’s smaller.