Inditex, H&M, Mango, Primark and Uniqlo form ARTE to represent the Spanish textile sector

The Inditex group (owner of Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Pull&Bear, Stradivarius, Kiddy's Class, Zara and Zara Home), H&M, Mango, Primark, Iberian Sports Retail Group (owner of JD Spain, JD Canarias, Sport Zone, Sprinter) and Uniqlo have formed the Asociación Retail Textil España (ARTE) to represent the entire textile sector in Spain, according to a press release.

These textile firms, which account for a third of the sector, have formed a new fashion employers' association to give voice to the industry's views on the challenges it faces in the economic, socio-labour and regulatory fields.

Its bylaws - which initially establish a minimum threshold in terms of employment, retail surface area and territorial presence - foresee the possibility of incorporating more companies in the textile sector that have common interests with those that are already part of the association, regardless of their size.

ARTE seeks to represent the general and shared positions of the sector in the institutional sphere, and in particular, in its relationship with the public administrations at different levels and the trade union organisations representing its workers.

Its founding members also aim to promote freedom of enterprise and establishment, as well as freedom of trade and business hours, market unity and commitments in terms of social and environmental sustainability.

The association's board of directors, which is made up of all the founding groups and has a four-year mandate, has thus set itself the goal of implementing its "ambitious work agenda with which it was born" by 2023.