A day after deleting images criticised for evoking Gaza war imagery, international clothing chain Zara has posted an apology on social media.
The company's social media sites had been flooded with criticism and calls for a boycott of the brand about a week after the launch of a campaign for a collection of jackets.
Most of the criticism came in the form of social media comments, however video from Tunis, the capital city of Tunisia, showed a group of protesters outside a Zara shopfront.
By Monday afternoon, images had been removed from the brand's social media accounts, website and app.
However, it hadn't posted a statement addressing the criticism or explaining the removal of the posts until Tuesday night.
The company put out a statement saying it had been "listening to the comments".
"The campaign, that was conceived in July and photographed in September, presents a series of images of unfinished sculptures in a sculptor's studio and was created with the sole purpose of showcasing craft-made garments in an artistic context," the company said.
"Unfortunately, some customers felt offended by these images, which have now been removed, and saw in them something far from what was intended when they were created.
"Zara regrets that misunderstanding and we reaffirm our deep respect towards everyone."
The latest war between Israel and Hamas began after October 7.
The apology, which was posted to Zara's Instagram page but not its X or Facebook accounts, attracted nearly 250,000 likes in 14 hours.
While Instagram account holders can opt to disable the function allowing comments on the post, the company apparently decided against this option.
Among the comments were repeated calls for a boycott of the company, and images of the Palestinian flag.
"This apology is giving 'Im sorry you felt this way' vibes …" one Instagram user wrote.
"If it was photographed in September you had two months to read the room and pull the campaign," another said.
What about the campaign sparked backlash?
We're unable to share the images because they'd been wiped from the brand's website, app and social media accounts.
The photos being criticised were published among a series of other images promoting the collection called "Atelier". Here's what one of the other images looked like:
The campaign image at the centre of the criticism showed a model carrying a mannequin wrapped in a white cloth.
Some posted this image on social media alongside photos from the Gaza war coverage showing bodies wrapped in white cloth.
Critics said it evoked imagery from the war between Israel and Hamas, with some suggesting it was pro-Israel.
Bodies wrapped in white cloth are associated with many other circumstances — such as situations with many fatalities including conflicts and natural disasters.
However, imagery of dead people wrapped in white cloths has become increasingly common in the recent coverage of the war in Gaza.