Fashion designer Steve Madden came to Atlanta Wednesday to talk to Clark Atlanta University students about entrepreneurship, resilience and building his shoe business during a pandemic.
It’s a city that he loves and the city loves him back. His Steve Madden store at Lenox Mall is currently his most popular store in the world, he said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Wednesday. He has more than 200 stores worldwide including one at Perimeter Mall and an outlet store in Woodstock.
“Once New York City comes back, I anticipate that will change but that store at Lenox is always top 10,” said Madden.
He was in town to promote the Fearless Fund, a two-year-old venture fund, and was joined on stage by fund co-creator and president Arian Simone at Clark Atlanta University. (Actress Keshia Knight Pulliam is involved as well, as chief development officer.)
According to a recent Harvard study, women make up just 11% of investing partners in venture capital firms and just 2.3% of funding went to all-female led companies. The percentage is even tinier for women of color.
So far, the fund has invested in 10 Black women-led businesses including Atlanta restaurant chain Slutty Vegan; mobile banking tool Capway; satin-lined rain hat maker Hairbrella; subscription-based training app Aarmy; and beauty retailer AMP Beauty LA.
Madden said he wants to lift women entrepreneurs up. “We just admire what the Fearless Fund is doing,” he said. “We want to see more Black entrepreneurship. Arian is amazing, very impressive.”
He provided mentorship sessions to the brands in the Fearless Fund portfolio and the Steve Madden social media channels highlighted their stories. He is a sponsor of the fund’s Venture Capital Week as well.
Simone said in an email: “He not only makes fantastic shoes for women, but he himself is an avid supporter of women in business and we’re so thankful to be able to offer his guidance and entrepreneurial expertise to our portfolio.”
The pandemic, on the surface, should have been a disaster for a company that focuses so much on high-end shoes. He shut down his stores for two months but business bounced back much faster than he expected. In recent months, he said his target demographic — women under age 40 — has been going out and partying with little regard for COVID.
“They’re whooping it up!” he said. “Our business is booming. Counterintuitively, we’re making more dress shoes even though nobody is in the office.” He said a lot of competitors cut back on production, providing him an opening. In fact, he expects 2021 will be a bigger year for him than 2019.
Not that it’s been easy. He said there are spot shortages and delays: “The supply chain is challenging but we are getting through it,” he said. Currently, 70% of sales is online but traditional retail is picking up.
Thanks to the pandemic, he has allowed his employees to be more flexible in terms of where they work. “People are doing remarkably well off-site,” he said. “You have to acknowledge that. That’s counter-intuitive for me. I don’t work in the house. I’m on the couch eating Oreos. But some people really can.”
His marketing strategy has remained consistent over the years and the pandemic did not impact that at all: “We try not to pander. Either you get it or you don’t. We try to stay true to ourselves.”
Madden is also getting into the TV and film business, starting a production company with actor Michael Rapaport (”Boston Public,” “Prison Break,” “Atypical”). According to Variety, after Rapaport agreed to play Madden in a potential TV project, they decided to work together.
“We met and hit it off,” Rapaport told Variety. “I have a lot of respect for what he accomplished in business. But getting to know him, I think we’re on the same page about creating content. And I find him very inspiring.”
And while Madden is an inveterate New York sports fan, donning a New York Yankees cap in Atlanta, he said he was deeply impressed by Trae Young, the vaunted Atlanta Hawks point guard who dismantled the New York Knicks during the first round of the playoffs earlier this year.
“He is the best player in the game,” Madden proclaimed.
“He isn’t even top 10,” countered his 13-year-old son Jack, who was hovering in ear shot of the conversation.
“That’s just not correct,” Madden said. “He’s definitely top 5. He single-handedly tore the Knicks apart!”
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