Mango’s Toni Ruiz on Founder Legacy, Continuity, and Reinvention

“We never spend enough time thinking about the future, and it’s essential”. The president and CEO of Mango, Toni Ruiz, believes that companies “cannot plan everything, but they can have a risk map to evaluate certain scenarios”. This is what he said in a conversation with the founder of Modaes, Pilar Riaño, in the framework of the fourteenth edition of the Barcelona Fashion Summit, which brings together more than five hundred executives at the Palau de la Música Catalana.

During his speech, Ruiz remembered Isak Andic, a year after his death, and highlighted two of his main lessons. The first, his “healthy ambition, always thinking that sky is the limit”. Secondly, his “ability to reinvent himself throughout the company’s forty-year history”. On this point, he said that “the first challenge this year has been to give continuity to Mango”.

Ruiz reflected on companies that suddenly lose their founder. “ It is very important to prepare for the future,“ he insisted. This has been key to overcoming a year that “could have been very bad”, however, Mango has managed to achieve double-digit growth.

“There have always been tariffs, but not like this. This has caused the companies to raise prices and the consumer has suffered the most”.

“This year, Mango has opened or refurbished a store every working day,“ he explained. “In our plan is to elevate the brand, to turn the product into something more desirable,“ something the executive believes the company has already achieved. “It was a complex and difficult year, but we have turned it into a historic year,“ he insisted.

Ruiz also spoke of the importance of knowing how to listen. For the executive, it is important to “have people at your side” who “help to separate what is important from what is not”. At this point, he highlighted the work of external advisors to “understand what may be here to stay and what may be temporary”. Mango is present in 120 countries.

“Tariffs have always existed, but not in this form. This has caused companies to raise prices and the consumer has suffered the most,“ he acknowledged. However, he considers the United States to be a strategic partner. “It is essential to have a presence and notoriety in a market like the U.S.,“ he said.

Ruiz has also pointed to the importance of putting the product at the center. “The improvement of the product is the indicator that you are on the right track”. Ruiz asked the product “to have a soul, to be different, and for design and creativity to be an essential part of the value proposition”. The executive recalled that all Mango designs are made in Barcelona.

“Sustainability is a medium- and long-term path, and regulation has to help us”.

Sustainability must remain, for Ruiz, at the center. “It must be a conviction for the company, it must be integrated in all aspects. It is a medium- and long-term path,“ he said, “and regulation must help us,“ he added.

Ruiz reflected on the characteristics that a good manager should have. “ He or she must be able to maintain a balance between strategic vision and execution”, must be “flexible and know how to listen”, as well as “be able to coordinate and develop a good team”, he said.

Finally, as a wish for 2026, Ruiz encouraged fashion companies “to continue, despite the noise, to focus on their raison d’être: to inspire and make people fall in love”. The executive has put product improvement at the center of Mango’s strategy for this year as well. “Continuing to grow and open stores has to be our next milestone.“

Barcelona Fashion Summit, the largest professional meeting of the fashion industry in Spain, celebrates today in Barcelona its fourteenth edition. The day has the sponsorship of Bleckmann, Splio and TikTok, the support of Comerzzia, Mixer&Pack, Moinsa, Nextail and Reveni, as well as the impulse of 080 Barcelona Fashion. Throughout the day, more than five hundred executives from Spanish and international companies will gather at the Palau de la Música Catalana, in an edition of the Barcelona Fashion Summit entitled Crossroad. Making fashion in a world that trembles.