Fact Check: People protest against Zara over controversial campaign in New York?

Claim:

A video circulating on social media shows piles of clothes strewn around in Times Square, New York. A Zara store is visible, along with billboards showing other fashion brands including Uniqlo, H&M, and Gap. ed across Facebook (archived here, here, and here) with a similar narrative.

Zara’s Instagram account saw tens of thousands of comments posted about the photos, many with Palestinian flags, while “#BoycottZara” was trending on messaging platform X after a controversial claim.

Fact:

A video circulating on social media shows piles of clothes strewn around in Times Square, New York. A Zara store is visible, along with billboards showing other fashion brands including Uniqlo, H&M, and Gap. A post on X (archived here) shared the video with the caption, 

A reverse image search of keyframes from the viral clip led us to the same video shared on TikTok by the official account of Vestiaire Collective on November 16, 2023. The caption reads, “With 92 million tons of textiles sent to landfill every year, now's the time to act.

That's why, from today, we're banning another 30 fast fashion brands from Vestiaire Collective, including Zara, H&M, Gap, Abercrombie & Fitch, Mango, Urban Outfitters, and Uniqlo. Ready to join the movement? #thinkfirstbuysecond.” Fast fashion is a term for the fast-paced manufacturing, wearing, and discarding of clothes, which results in textile waste. 

The firm has also uploaded a similar video of the campaign on its official YouTube channel titled “Think First, Buy Second” on the same date. The video description states, “Join the circular movement and help us end fast fashion waste.

Think First, Buy Second