Steve Madden may have just signed a license with Jump Apparel Group to produce two new dress lines, but he’s clearly still a shoe guy.
“This is such a hot shoe. They are going to sell like crazy,” said Madden, addressing his staff in a meeting at his Queens, N.Y., headquarters on Monday. Madden was referring to a red open-toe wedge that will be in stores in February. He could hardly contain himself, standing up and walking around his office with the shoe in hand. He even left the room to find the nearest receptionist to try it on. “This is the kind of shoe that will sell out fast.”
The designer is also hoping his new line of day dresses, being launched at retail in the spring, will sell out fast. Madden has signed a licensing deal with Jump to design, manufacture and distribute dresses under the Steve Madden and Steven by Steve Madden brands. Madden is targeting dress departments of major department and specialty stores like Macy’s, Dillard’s and Nordstrom, and said he expects to reach $20 million in wholesale volume in the first year with the new product category.
“We aren’t making sportswear or jeans. I don’t want to do that,” Madden said. “We did apparel before and hated the clothes. They just weren’t right for us. This time is different. Our customers wear dresses, so we will have great dresses. They wear Seven and True Religion; they don’t need jeans from us… but we consider these dresses to be just as important as next season’s sandals.”
While there are no samples to be seen yet, Madden said the lines will include shirtdresses and other vintage styles, and will be housed in a soon to open showroom at 1400 Broadway here. He said the company plans to take prints designed for shoes and put them into the dresses.
Steve Madden dresses will wholesale from $60 to $90, and Steven by Steve Madden dresses will range from $93 to $125.
“We wanted to make sure that we established the Steven brand through the footwear first. We did that before we even thought about expanding into other categories,” said Rob Schmertz, brand director at Steve Madden.
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The dresses are being targeted to major specialty and department stores, and the company plans to offer them in select Steve Madden boutiques nationwide. They will not be available in all 95 stores, but will be tested in about six company-owned stores in early February. The first will be the SoHo location, where construction is expected to begin soon on dressing rooms.
This isn’t the first time the company has dabbled in apparel. While it’s known as a strong contemporary shoe resource, Steve Madden Ltd. produces outerwear through a licensing agreement with SoHo Fashions. The company once produced Steve Madden brand activewear with SoHo Fashions, but that deal ended and wasn’t renewed. The firm had a denim line, which shipped for fall and holiday 1999 under a licensing deal with Jordache Ltd.; that deal was terminated after a short time. Madden executives have attributed the problems to a combination of styling and having the wrong licensing partner.
The company also does a big business in accessories, producing handbags, belts and eyewear under the Steve Madden brand. It has a licensing deal with Tracy Reese and Betsey Johnson to produce belts and handbags, as well as belts for Ellen Tracy.
Madden said he would like to enter the sleepwear business, but certainly not intimate apparel.
“We tried to do intimates,” he said, “but when I saw the product, I was horrified. It’s just not right for our customer. But pajamas would be great.”