Inditex, the company behind household brands Zara and Bershka, is one of the largest fashion retailers in the world. Its CEO, Pablo Isla, is a key reason the company has flourished in difficult market conditions.
The name Inditex might not be particularly well known, but its products certainly are. The Spanish multinational is one of the largest fashion groups in the world by market capitalisation, comprising more than 7,400 stores in 96 different markets. Its brands include Zara, Bershka and Massimo Dutti, among several others.
Despite operating in a hugely competitive environment, Inditex is going from strength to strength. Last year, sales, earnings and revenue were all up, and the company is managing to expand into new markets while remaining true to its sustainable ethos. Much of the credit for pulling off this difficult balancing act should go to its CEO, Pablo Isla, who joined the firm in 2005.
Under Isla’s watch, Inditex has flourished in difficult circumstances, overcoming the monumental issues presented by the global financial crash and eurozone debt crisis with aplomb. The company has also successfully kept up with an evolving retail market, which has seen high street stores face huge disruption from online competitors.
While other brick-and-mortar clothes stores have been forced to close, Inditex’s brands have stood strong. As CEO, Isla has shown that he is able to react quickly to developments in the market, adapting to new technologies and shifting consumer tastes. It is hardly surprising, then, that Harvard Business Review has named him as the world’s best performing CEO for the past two years.
