Zara withdraws Halloween costume resembling concentration camp uniform

Spanish fashion chain Zara has withdrawn a children's Halloween costume from sale after critics said it resembled uniforms worn by concentration camp prisoners during the Nazi dictatorship.

The costume, consisting of a jacket and trousers with blue and white vertical stripes, was designed to look worn, and featured printed patterns recalling barbed wire. Patches on the sleeves suggested prisoner numbers. 

"The Spanish fashion chain Zara is horrifying its customers in Europe with yet another of its nightmarish ideas - a costume in the style of Nazi concentration camps," Israeli journalist Dov Gil-Har wrote in a post on X.

The costume is no longer available on Zara's online shop. 

"Zara Home regrets any misunderstanding that this Halloween groom children's costume may have caused. It is no longer available either in our shops or online," the chain's press office said in response to an enquiry. 

The company did not answer when asked why internal checks had not noted that the costume resembled concentration camp clothing.

This is not the first time that Zara has been criticized for products associated with Nazism. 

In 2014, Zara withdrew a blue-and-white striped children's shirt that had a yellow six-pointed star on the left chest, resembling those Nazis forced Jewish people in Germany to wear. 

In an earlier incident in 2007, Zara sold a cloth bag decorated with swastikas alongside floral patterns.