Zara withdraws "offensive" shirt

CLOTHING retailer Zara, which has stores in France, has withdrawn a children’s striped shirt featuring a yellow star after social media users likened it to the uniform worn by Jewish prisoners in concentration camps during World War Two.

Spanish-based Zara pulled the “sheriff” shirt, after the blog 972.com pointed out its holocaust connotations.

The design sparked outrage on social media. One French commenter described it as a "joli fail" and asked if Zara was planning a similar range, in black and featuring a double-S logo.

The company said the “original design was inspired by the sheriff’s star in Westerns”, and had “nothing to do with the connotations that were associated with it”.

But it pulled the item from sale and has apologised in several languages on Twitter for any offence caused.

The six-pointed yellow star on the striped shirt bore the word “Sheriff”, but it was not immediately obvious in the images on its website.

The shirt was available via Zara’s French homepage as well as in a number of its international outlets, including Israel, Britain, Denmark, Albania and Sweden.

It is not the first time Zara has found itself in hot water over a design gaffe. In 2007, it was criticised for selling a bag that was embroidered with swastikas.

Photo: Charlotte Taccón / Twitter