Isak Andic: "I still have the spirit and enthusiasm of a young person"

"Who hasn't worn Mango at some point?" asked the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni. He was saying it to its founder, Isak Andic, who received this Monday the Kingdom of Spain Award for business career. A question that the businessman surely couldn't imagine the answer to when he started weaving a project that was almost called Bubbles and Scooter and that "was born in a humble way," as he himself recalled.

Basically, because Andic's is the story of "a self-made person," remarked the King, who was in charge of presenting him with the award. Born in Istanbul in 1953, into a Sephardic Jewish family, he arrived in the Catalan capital at just 16 years old and soon began selling t-shirts and blouses he imported from Turkey, closing his first operation in an establishment on Via Augusta and going to find clients by car all over Spain. Together with his brother Nahman, he opened the first Mango store in 1984, located at number 65 Paseo de Gràcia. More than 40 years later, Andic leads a global brand, with revenues exceeding 3 billion euros and a workforce of 15,000 employees.

The founder of Mango has become the eighth to receive the award, created in 2015 by the Cercle d'Economia, the Círculo de Empresarios and the Círculo de Empresarios Vascos, making it stop in Barcelona for the second time, where his friend, Mariano Puig, also received it. Before a large audience of politicians, businessmen and representatives of civil society, among whom was the Minister of Industry, Jordi Hereu, and with the last-minute absence of the Minister of Business and Labor, Roger Torrent, a visibly emotional Andic remembered many in his speech, especially colleagues like the aforementioned Mariano Puig and Enrique Legrain, "who gave good advice and integrated this immigrant into society."

"I have a mix of feelings. This is a recognition of a long career. When I look back, I feel dizzy. Although I have been working for 50 years, I still have the spirit and enthusiasm of a young person," said Andic, now one of the richest men in Spain. "This award is not for Isak Andic. It is for Mango, which is much more than one person, this is the key to its success, it is a bit of everyone," defended its ideologue.

"You have been one of the great entrepreneurs in the cradle of the textile industry, Barcelona, and a magnificent example of how a sector has evolved, and continues to do so," the King applauded. "Thank you for trying to make our country, with your work, a better Spain," Felipe VI stressed. A message to which Collboni also joined, thanking him "for carrying the city's name around the world." "Barcelona, Catalonia and Spain need many more Isak Andic. He is an example of how to generate prosperity with commitment and self-identity," the mayor added.

Known for being extremely discreet, other entrepreneurs have been the ones who have put black on white on Andic's personality. "His head doesn't stop," began the former CEO of Louis Vuitton and member of the boards of directors of Puig and Fluidra, Jordi Constans. "When you congratulate him on the results, he always says: I don't do anything, the team does it," continued the CEO of Puig, Marc Puig, "he is a perfectionist, when he sees that something is not working, he immediately puts it in its place." "He is a curious person, detail-oriented and has great determination. He helps others without expecting anything in return. He deserves all the recognition," ventured to say the president of the Planeta group, José Creuheras. The most forceful was the president of Banco Sabadell, Josep Oliu. "Whoever is lucky enough to put an Isak in their life is happy," the banker concluded.