Steve Madden saw growth in across its brand portfolio in the third quarter, according to chief executive officer Edward R. Rosenfeld.
Rosenfeld told investors in an earnings conference call Thursday that its “flagship brand Steve Madden led the way with strong growth across footwear, accessories and apparel, as well as in both wholesale and DTC (direct-to-consumer) channels.”
He said that in footwear, the brand had “exceptional growth in casuals, along with strong performance in booties and heels [that] more than offset a decline in tall shaft boots.” The brand also saw success across a wide range of shapes in its handbag category. And in apparel, he said the brand had a “successful launch of denim and drove strong sell-though across categories including dresses, tops, bottoms and jackets.”
The CEO also noted that Madden Girl and the brand’s men’s footwear line are both “showing strong growth this year versus last year.” He noted men’s is benefiting from the fashion shift as more men are “deciding that they’re going to get out of their sneakers and wear maybe loafers. And so, we’re doing phenomenal with loafers. We’re doing phenomenal with updated dress shoes.” And Rosenfeld added that men’s still has some sneaker styles that “are good.” With the company investing more in marketing in men’s and the upgrades to the product, he said it can be a “growth opportunity for us going forward.”
At Kurt Geiger, Rosenfeld spoke about the limited edition collaboration with Paddington Bear, and the opening of the full-price store in N.Y.C.’s SoHo neighborhood, as well as the premium outlet in Desert Hills, Calif., and the handbag and footwear shop-in-shops in Macy’s Herald Square and at 13 other locations. He noted that there could be a chance that number to get “up to 40 or maybe even 42 for spring of ’27.”
He also said Kurt Geiger business “continues to perform [and that] it’s making money.” What has been lagging and why the overall business for Kurt Geiger is slightly down is due to the “concessions business being lower.” He added the company will know more about the range for margin targets at Kurt Geiger later pending an understanding of the go-forward tariff regime.
And at its other lead brand Dolce Vita, the footwear styles that resonated with consumers included ballets, loafers, mary janes and wedge mules. And across both shoes and handbags, on-trend materials such as sued and animal print, as well as seasonal colors that include oxblood, jade and chocolate brown did well in the quarter, Rosenfeld said.
The Dolce Vita brand also held a month-long residency in October at 179 N 10th St. in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y. The loft space, dubbed The Dolce Vita Flat, hosted dinners, editorial appointments, styling sessions and community gatherings. It was inspired by the brand’s best-selling flats category, Rosenfeld said. The concept was a move for the brand to build deeper relationships with its community and get a better understanding of its customer.
Across its broad brand portfolio, the CEO said the company is seeing strength and that brands such as Anne Klein and Betsey Johnson are “on pace for strong gains for the year.”
The company’s chief financial officer Zine Mazouzi said that the company tariff assumptions for the fourth quarter for any products received were lowered to the 12.5 percent range from the prior guidance of 15 percent.
“As far as freight is concerned, in Q4, we’re assuming we’ll still have an impact from inbound freight, but although we were able to manage it in Q3, we’re expecting probably about a 20 basis pints impact outbound freight, or freight to our stores or to our consumers from our e-com.”
Shares of Steven Madden Ltd. were trading down 17.3 percent in mid-afternoon trading Thursday to the range of $38.83, but that likely was less about its third quarter earnings report and more about the overall selloff Wednesday’s post-election rally. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 3.3 percent, or over 1,700 points.
For the quarter ended Sept. 30, net income more than doubled to $52.4 million, or 72 cents a diluted share, on a total revenue gain of 15.7 percent to $772.6 million. Reported revenues also included a net sales increase of 15.7 percent to $767.9 million, with the balance of revenue from licensing income.