Rosalia Mera:Spanish Fashion Giant that Owns Zara

By Anna Lim

西班牙品牌Zara算是快時尚服裝產業(yè)的佼佼者之一，它在款式的吸引力、更新率以及商品價格優(yōu)勢等方面都做得非常出色，在全球服裝市場不斷地取得成功。其創(chuàng)始人就是傳奇的西班牙女首富羅薩莉婭·梅拉……

The world’s richest self-made woman, a Spanish former seamstress who co-founded the fashion retailer Zara, has died at the age of 69 in August, 2013.1. self-made: 白手起家的；seamstress:女裁縫；retailer: 零售商。Rosalia Mera was the richest woman in Spain with an estimated worth of $6.1bn,although her fortune represented a fraction of the wealth accumulated by her former husband and Zara co-founder, Armancio Ortega.2. bn: 10億，為billion的縮寫；fraction: 一小部分。Mera suffered a stroke while on holiday. She died in a hospital in the town where she was born, La Coruna in northern Spain.

Having left school at 11 years old, Mera worked as a seamstress as a teenager before setting up a company with Ortega that would evolve into one of the biggest clothes retailers in the world. Originally,the pair had planned to name the store Zorba, but the store sign was modified to avoid confusion with a nearby bar.3. modify: 修改；confusion: 混淆。Today the rearranged name sits above 1,763 Zara stores around the world.

The Zara model grew up from the idea that first sent Mera into business: producing speedy and cheap imitations4. imitation: 仿制品。of the latest catwalk or pop culture trends. Mera was one of the great pioneers of so-called “fast fashion”. Despite her vast wealth, Mera stayed close to home and was often seen socializing in Galicia’s bars and taverns.5. Galicia: 加利西亞，西班牙西北部一地區(qū)；tavern: 酒館。