Isak Andic (Istanbul, 1953) was barely 17 years old when he sold some blouses imported from Turkey to a store on Via Augusta. According to the newspaper archive of La Vanguardia, this was his first business and with the operation he earned 950 pesetas at the time. He invested the small profit in buying more clothes, until “he had a stock that filled two suitcases.” Today, 54 years later, he has a network of more than 2,700 points of sale in 115 markets, in addition to an important online activity, with his fashion company Mango. The company that he founded four decades ago today employs 15,500 people and has a turnover of more than 3.1 billion euros. This Monday in Barcelona, the King will present him with the VIII Kingdom of Spain award to recognize his business career.
Andic's story is similar to that of the prodigal son who returns home. Despite being born in Istanbul, his connection with Spain goes back centuries. His family is Sephardic, descended from the Jews expelled from the kingdom of Castile in 1492 by the Catholic Monarchs. When he was 14 years old, his parents decided to move in search of better life prospects. In choosing Spain he considered that the family spoke Ladino, a dialect of ancient Spanish that the Sephardic community has preserved.
The young Andic arrived in Barcelona when he was 14 years old and here he studied high school and economics. But his passion was commerce, business. In a conversation recorded in 1990 by journalist Jordi Palarea in this newspaper, Andic explains his beginnings in the sector. The sale of blouses was followed by shearling coats from Turkey and Afghanistan. “With the profits, he buys a car and starts selling all kinds of clothing from exotic countries throughout Spain,” the article describes. Shortly after, he set up his first store in a market on Balmes Street in the Catalan capital, where he sold clogs imported from the Netherlands. But this business soon became too small for him and he decided to open three clothing stores in Portal de l'Àngel, la Boqueria and la Rambla. After that, he took a step further and in 1984 he decided to design and manufacture his own clothes under the Mango brand. That year he opened the firm's first store on Passeig de Gràcia.
Little by little, the chain was consolidating and in 1992 it experienced one of its greatest milestones. Mango began its activity outside the Spanish market with the first two points of sale in Portugal. But the general public will remember the anniversary for other reasons: the advertising campaign that supermodel Claudia Schiffer starred in for the company. The German top began collaborating with Mango in 1990 and contributed to boosting its position in the world of fashion, at a rate of 1.5 million pesetas a day for being immortalized in the brand's clothing. “Claudia is a great professional and she takes her work very seriously. Furthermore, it is a pleasure to talk with her, since she is able to talk about art, literature and philosophy quite appropriately and without an iota of petulance,” the company stated in these pages.
Perhaps more complicated was the collaboration with another of the great models of the time, Naomi Campbell, who showed off her explosive character during a photo session at the company. Flashes of genius aside, the collaboration with the English top was a success. The firm later used other stars such as Judith Mascó or Scarlett Johansson to elevate its image. One of its latest campaigns starred the soccer player Alexia Putellas, a profile more in line with new social sensitivities.
The company had grown steadily and profitably and had become a global firm at the beginning of this century, with a presence on all five continents. But starting in 2015, it entered a period of losses and falling turnover that forced Andic to turn the helm. In 2014 he had reinforced the position of his son Jonathan Andic in the group, but the poor performance of the company made him change his mind and shortly after he placed the current CEO, Toni Ruiz, in charge, an experienced executive with whom he has forged a sincere relationship of trust, while he maintains the non-executive presidency. Ruiz, owner of 5% of Mango's shares, has turned around the company, which in 2023 achieved a record year in sales and profits. The objective now is to reach 4,000 million in turnover in three years.
“Mango has the best team in its history,” said an exultant Isak Andic at the opening of the Fifth Avenue store in New York in May 2022. The group is experiencing a sweet moment in its 40th anniversary and Andic (one of the greatest fortunes in Spain, with assets estimated at 2.7 billion euros according to Forbes), today receives recognition for his career. Father of three children (Jonathan, Judith and Sarah), whom he has incorporated into the structure of his estate Punta Na, he is a member of the international advisory board of the IESE business school (IAB) and a trustee of the Princess of Asturias Foundation. from the National Museum of Art of Catalonia (MNAC) and the Elena Barraquer Foundation. Among other positions, he has served as vice president of Banco Sabadell and has been a member of the International Advisory Board of the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Investment Advisory Council for Turkey and president of the Family Business Institute.
