Isak Andic, the founder of Spanish fashion brand Mango, has died after suffering an accident, the company said on Saturday. He was 71.
‘It is with deep regret that we announce the unexpected death of Isak Andic, our non-executive chairman and founder of Mango, in an accident that occurred this Saturday,’ Mango CEO Toni Ruiz said in a statement.
Spanish news agency EFE and other media outlets, including La Vanguardia newspaper, said Andic died following a fall while hiking near Barcelona.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez paid tribute to Andic on social media, lauding his ‘hard work and business vision that transformed a Spanish brand into a global fashion leader’.
The media-shy entrepreneur was one of Spain’s richest men. Forbes estimates he and his family have a net worth of $4.5 billion.
Under his watch, to help boost sales, the company hired big stars such as British model Kate Moss, Spanish actor Penelope Cruz, and French footballer Antoine Griezmann for its marketing campaigns.
Andic’s family moved from Turkey to Spain when he was young. He opened Mango’s first store in Barcelona in 1984 and over the following decades helped Mango grow into one of Europe’s leading fast fashion makers.
Mango has 2,700 stores in 120 markets around the world. It set a company record of 3.1 billion euros in sales in 2023. It is currently expanding in the U.S. and plans to have 65 stores there by the end of 2025.
Like its main domestic rival Inditex, the world’s biggest fashion retailer and owner of the popular Zara brand, Mango strives to quickly adjust its production to the latest fashion trends while offering affordable prices.
Mango does not own any factory, outsourcing its production mainly to lower-cost Turkey and Asia.
‘Isak has been an example for all of us,’ the statement from Mango’s CEO said. ‘He dedicated his life to Mango, leaving an indelible mark thanks to his strategic vision, his inspiring leadership and his unwavering commitment to values that he himself imbued in our company.’
‘His legacy reflects the achievements of a business project marked by success, and also by his human quality, his proximity and the care and affection that he always had and at all times conveyed to the entire organisation,’ it went on.
‘His departure leaves a huge void but all of us are, in some way, his legacy and the testimony of his achievements. We will ensure that Mango continues to be the project that Isak aspired to and of which he would feel proud.’
The head of Catalonia’s regional government, Salvador Illa, hailed Andic as ‘a committed businessman who, with his leadership, has contributed to making Catalonia great and projecting it to the world’.
‘He leaves an indelible mark on the Catalan and global fashion sector,’ he added in a post of social network X.
Se investigan las causas de la caída de 150 metros que acabó con la vida de Isak Andic, fundador de Mango
— Informativos Telecinco (@informativost5) December 15, 2024
Informa @adam_salvia > https://t.co/cJ78tkuY73 pic.twitter.com/bendtSQRi5
It is with deep regret that we announce the unexpected death of Isak Andic, our non-executive Chairman and founder of Mango, in an accident that occurred this Saturday.
— MANGO (@Mango) December 14, 2024
Isak has been an example for all of us. He dedicated his life to Mango, leaving an indelible mark thanks to his… pic.twitter.com/lWoayEcXEh
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