Spanish police keep Mango founder death probe open amid reports son is a suspect

Isak Andic, the founder of Spanish fashion brand Mango, arrives at the Fall-Winter 2011 Mango's fashion show in Paris Tuesday, May 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Madrid, Spain -- Spanish police confirmed Friday that their probe into the sudden death last year of Mango clothing empire founder Isak Andic remains open following reports his son has become a suspect.

Andic, 71, died in December 2024 after plunging more than 100 metres (300 feet) while hiking with his eldest son Jonathan in the Montserrat mountains near Barcelona.

Police initially ruled the death accidental, but they are now investigating Jonathan, 44, for a possible homicide, El Pais daily reported late Thursday, citing “different sources with knowledge of the investigation”.

Jonathan, who was the only person with his father at the time of the incident, has provided “inconsistent” testimony in two declarations that has “fuelled suspicion”, it said.

His version of events did not align with forensic evidence collected at the site, the newspaper said.

Contacted by AFP, Catalan regional police sources confirmed that an investigation is ongoing without giving further details because the case remains under judicial secrecy.

Barcelona-based daily La Vanguardia, also citing sources with knowledge of the investigation, said the investigating judge formally changed Jonathan’s status from witness to suspect in late September and that police were combing through the contents of his mobile phone.

Spanish media said police also cited the testimony of Isak Andic’s partner, professional golfer Estefania Knuth, who described strained relations between father and son.

The trail Isak Andic and his son were walking along links the Salnitre caves in Collbato with the Montserrat monastery and is popular with families on weekends.

‘Keep moving forward’

Jonathan began his professional career in Mango in 2005 after studying audiovisual communication in the United States and business in Spain.

He began to manage the Mango Man line two years later and is currently the vice-chairman of Mango’s board, according to the company’s website.

“If you are clear about where you want to go and keep moving forward, you will end up achieving your goals,” he said in a Mango promotional video posted on YouTube two years ago.

The Andic family said in a statement sent to Spanish media that it was “co-operating fully with the authorities” and “is confident that this process will finish as soon as possible and that Jonathan Andic’s innocence will be demonstrated”.

Contacted by AFP, Mango did not respond to requests for comment.

Istanbul-born Isak Andic was one of Spain’s richest people, with Forbes estimating his and his family’s fortune at $4.5 billion.

In December 2023, Isak Andic took the unprecedented step of opening up Mango’s ownership, selling a 5.0 percent stake to Toni Ruiz, the current chairman of the board.

Quick growth

Andic opened his first Mango shop on the Paseo de Gracia, Barcelona’s famous shopping street, in 1984 with the help of his older brother Nahman. It was hugely successful.

Spain had just emerged from a decades-long dictatorship that ended with the death of General Francisco Franco in 1975, and consumers were hungry for more modern clothes.

His Mango brand quickly mushroomed across Spain and became one of the world’s leading fashion groups.

The company offers both professional and casual styles and boasts a presence in more than 120 markets with more than 16,400 employees worldwide, according to its website.

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 Turkiye and Asia.

By Daniel Silva, AFP