Steve Madden: The Past, the Present, and the Future

by Melanie Espeland

Attitude is at the core of the atmosphere inside the Steve Madden showroom in New York City. A visual collage of leopard to leather, platforms of every imaginable height, decorative straw, glittery shades of silver and gold tones, this showroom is a masterpiece to the eye. You may already own some of the shoes in this room. I own 6 pairs of Maddens, so I naturally wore one of them for the interview I did with Madden's Marketing Executive, Elissa Kravetz. With the Goo Goo Doll's song, "Black Balloon" as the room's backdrop, I spoke with Elissa and Kimberlee Auletta (who does the public relations for Steve Madden shoes).

Where to start? "I got this job by being persistent and interning," starts off Elissa. She went on to tell how nice Steve Madden was when she met him at a Nordstrom's store. Overall, she scored her current kill-worthy job by interning at Steve Madden Ltd., and following her heart. Once on the inside, she admitted, "It's just like a big family," proving how cool Steve Madden Ltd. actually is.

And another thing: "Steve really listens to his customers," hence how Steve stays in touch with the market and the minds of his buyers. "That's why he's so successful." Madden is known to make appearances in malls where stores carry his shoes. Guaranteed a large crowd, he will always talk to his customers in an effort to find out what they think is "hot" and what's not about shoe fashion. He also discusses his shoe designs with his staff and asks them what could make them better. I thought to myself, so that's how he does it. He listens. The mystery of how a 42 year old man can create funky and cool shoes for women and teenagers is solved.