Jovian Mandagie has been touted as one of Malaysia’s “successful” designers. But his success crumbled, revealing a bankruptcy born not of bad luck, but of a precarious reliance on “friendly loans” and an inflated public image

Jovian Mandagie in 2021

His Datuk title and media-anointed success now ring hollow. Celebrity fashion designer Jovian Mandagie has been declared by a Kuala Lumpur high court a bankrupt after failing to repay a RM5 million (or about S$1.51 million) loan to a construction company that was agreed upon verbally, according to Malaysian news reports. The Star reported that the court granted the bankruptcy order after the water works firm, Cekap Air Sdn Bhd, filed a creditor’s petition over Jovian’s failure to settle RM5,284,340.66, including interest, for a loan that was extended to Mr Mandagie in 2022. The designer enjoyed what has been called a “friendly loan”, one facilitated verbally between Cekap Air’s director Yong Zhen Wei and Mr Mandagie, with the understanding that the latter would settle the debt within 12 months. In fact, according to the New Straits Times, there was another loan taken, also RM5 million, offered by Bina Pragmatik, a renovation company.

A statement of claim from the lender, Cekap Air, asserted that, “there was no reason for the plaintiff to doubt the defendant as the latter had several other businesses and was [then] the son-in-law of the former prime minister.” At the time the loans were given in February 2022, Mr Mandagie was married to Nina Ismail Sabri, the daughter of the then-prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob. The couple tied the knot in 2013. During Ismail Sabri’s tenure as PM (August 2021 to November 2022), being his son-in-law would naturally confer a significant degree of perceived stability, influence, and access within the Malaysian business and political landscape. Lenders, even informal ones, would likely view an individual with such a connection as a lower credit risk, potentially more trustworthy, and possibly even having means to repay debts, directly or indirectly, through their connections. Mr Mandagie leveraged this implied trust and credibility through his familial ties.

With his wife Nina Ismail Sabri

The couple divorced in August 2023, after a decade together. It is not know why they called it quits. While Mr Mandagie announced the end of the marriage through Instagram in December 2023, vaguely citing “reasons we believe are best”, this revelation notably followed his default on the loan repayment earlier that year. Online speculations quickly connected his burgeoning financial woes to his marital troubles. This personal upheaval mirrored a public image increasingly at odds with his financial reality. The designer is reputed to be passionate about fast cars, and is known to own a couple of them. A 2017 article from FirstClasse Malaysia mentioned his “love affair with his Lamborghini and Porsche”, which he facetiously referred to as his “two other wives”. It is not clear if he had those automobiles at the time of his navigating the treacherous path through insolvency. But it would have been bad optics to keep sports cars when you are later unable to settle your debt.

Mr Mandagie’s financial entanglements, however, run deeper than personal loans. In May this year, reports indicated that his former father-in-law, ex-PM Ismail Sabri Yaakob, was under investigation in connection with a major graft case, with MACC later moving to forfeit over RM170 million in his assets. In their investigations, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has confirmed recording Mr Mandagie’s statement in Jakarta, Indonesia, as part of an ongoing probe into asset ownership linked to Datuk Ismail Sabri, as reported by the New Straits Times. Mr Mandagie had relocated to Indonesia after announcing the closure of his fashion business in May 2024—a move that, for many, fueled speculation and raised eyebrows. This MACC probe of alleged corruption and money laundering during Datuk Ismail Sabri’s premiership, ensnares Mr Mandagie within a nexus of political influence and financial dealings that extend far beyond the runways of his fashion network.

Mr Mandagie had relocated to Indonesia after announcing the closure of his fashion business in May 2024—a move that, for many, fueled speculation and raised eyebrows

It is not immediately clear what Mr Mandagie was doing in Jakarta, but it added another layer to the opacity surrounding his affairs. In most media profiles, he has been described as a “Indonesian-Malaysian”. But reports from the MACC investigation confirmed he is an Indonesian national and has recently moved back to Jakarta, where he was born in 1986. Very little is publicly available about Mr Mandagie’s childhood or his family in either country, a scarcity that contrasts sharply with his later, highly publicised image. He said in past interviews that he moved to Malaysia when he was five. And he started his business in the country primarily because his mother was already in business there as a beautician. This suggests a family connection and established presence in Malaysia for the young boy.

Despite moving to Malaysia at a tender age and establishing his initial ties there, Mr Mandagie’s Indonesian roots would later resurface professionally. He received his entire education in Malaysia, from kindergarten through higher education at Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (LUCT), a private institution in Cyberjaya. Here, he initially studied architecture, but notably switched to fashion during his time there. Like many designers, Mr Mandagie often said he went into the profession because he “likes fashion”. At LUCT, he was described as a “rebellious student”, a trait that perhaps influenced his decision to seek a post-graduate internship in Jakarta, with the designer Ivan Gunawan, popularly known as Igun, who was “fired” last year from his gig as a TV host for being “too feminine”. Mr Mandagie took to hosting too. In 2017, he co-hosted the bridal show on TLC, Say Yes to the Dress: Asia, alongside image consultant Daphne Iking.

Mr Mandegie received a Shopee Super Award in 2023. How that augmented his standing as coutourier, he did not say

It was with Igun, whom he identified as a mentor and friend, that Mr Mandagie got a taste of dressing Indonesian celebrities, who tended to choose special-occasion wear that was necessarily dramatic. He brought this acquired aesthetic back to Malaysia, where the Jovian brand was born in in 2006, apparently with only RM5,000 from his mother and his own savings, as well as one sewing machine, a small table, and a single employee. Despite the limited resources and little professional clout, he started as a self-declared “couturier”. His early clients reportedly included singers Ning Baizura and Siti Nurhaliza. Media descriptions of his designs throughout his career in Malaysia varied little: “lavish and intricate”, “rich fabrics and texture” or “modern take on traditional wear”, all of which could describe practically every Malaysian designer who cater to the wealthy. Mr Mandagie main aim, it seemed, was to be the celebrity designer that he became. And the headlines certainly played their part.

Although the success of the couture line was never quantified (other than his telling the media that he could easily sell a gown for RM3,000), he started to expand his business, first with the ready-to-wear line in 2012 and then Jovian White in 2017 for bridal wear. In 2023, the Jovian RTW saw the opening of its first flagship store in Kuala Lumpur’s swanky mall Pavilion. Mr Mandagie excitedly shared on IG that he “dapat berjiran dengan (got to be neighbours with) Dior”. He did not describe the extent of the proximity his store enjoyed. As he expanded his fashion business, he, too, opened the pharmacy chain Jovian Selcare, a joint venture between his own Jovian Pharma and Selgate Healthcare, that in 2022 numbered four stores. It is possible that the “friendly loans” he took was used to finance these aggressive ventures. But if he was unable to repair the loan, it could indicate that the businesses, however bouyant he made them out to be, could be one big sinking ship.

Jovian Mandagie runway show in 2012

In 2024, Mr Mandagie shuttered his fashion business. He shared on IG that after 17 years, “ I’ve come to realize that I’m ready for a change, to explore what truly drives me. The fashion industry is evolving, and so have I, transitioning from a designer to a businessman.” There was no mention of his financial troubles. It has never been clear what he was truly better in—design or business? According to industry watchers, Mr Mandagie did not really design, leaving most, if not all, of the designing to hired help. In 2020, News Hub Asia reported that he had hired two designers, Juliani Jamal and Arene Khairuddin. “I’m giving the freedom for the girls to fully express what they think the House of Jovian Mandagie should represent in terms of their designs,” he said. “When designing, I always remind them to think differently. Be the trendsetter. Although, I’m still overseeing the process. I hold the final approval on what goes in and out.”

While Jovian Mandagie asserted a stunning shift from designer to businessman, his recent bankruptcy declaration offers a sobering assessment of his true business acumen. The shuttering of his fashion business in 2024, coming on the heels of his divorce from Nina Ismail Sabri, highlights a critical vulnerability: the loss of familial ties to a former prime minister. These connections, which implicitly ushered in a network of affluent, willing-to-spend clientele and an aura of influence—even sparking public controversy like the 2021 helicopter scandal where his perceived privileged rescue during a flood drew widespread condemnation—may have been fundamental to his brand’s survival and visibility. Without such powerful, informal patronage, the successful image he meticulously crafted ultimately proved to be unsustainable. The headlines that once celebrated the celebrity designer now recount the fizzle of one.

Pbotos: jmandagie/Instagram