Steve Madden @ Parsons

Steve Madden hates the dad shoe trend.

In the beginning of the month, the shoe mogul came to The New School to sit down with Mickey Boardman, the editorial director at Paper Magazine, to discuss how he built his billion-dollar empire from the ground up. Before the event, The New School Free Press talked with Mr. Madden about the future of the fashion industry, his favorite trends and what he wants to do next.

What current trend do you hate and what is one that you like?

That is a great question. I don’t love the dad shoe trend. I’m making a lot of money with it, [but] I can’t bear it. You gotta really be cool to wear that Balenciaga shoe. It’s just like a massive mound of shoe, right? But you know what, the more you see it, you get used to it. But, I can’t see a smaller woman wearing it. But that’s fashion.

And what do I love? Conversely, I like the sneaker trend, which I’m surprised actually. I’m not a sneaker guy. But I do like them. I think our sneakers are great. We have little platform sneakers that are great. It’s the dad sneaker, you know, that I just hate.

What skills do you think young people are lacking that would be important for them to learn to enter the fashion world and other design fields?

Retail skills. You know, working in a store. That’s sort of like, the basic training in fashion. The trenches. Go to work at a Zara or go to work in a Macy’s.

What is your advice for New School students who might feel hesitant to radically chase after their own dreams?

Oh. Well, I would say that, before they did, that, they could learn the craft a little bit before they jump right into the dream phase. Do your work first, you know, get the basics down. You could say that about anything, but I think it’s true with design and shoes.

Now you have the knowledge that you do, is there anything you would do differently?

Professionally, no. Professionally, it’s been a journey, you know, it hasn’t been straight up. I wish I didn’t have so many stores right now. The revolution and digital revolution is here and too many stores is not so good. So I probably have too many.

Who has been your biggest mentors and supporters?

I’ve had a lot of mentors. You know, starting with my dad. Mentors are very, sort of, ephemeral. They sort of come and go, and then you go through a period where you hate your mentor. Everybody’s parent’s influence them the most. The question should be besides your father and mother, who was your mentors? Because it really is your parents and there’s no getting away from it. But I’ve had about five or six very influential people on my life. I get easily influenced, and I go through a phase. I don’t know if I have that now.

How can students, specifically from Parsons, design for a future when originality appears to be forgotten?

I don’t think that’s true. I think it’s the same as it ever was. I think there’s, you know, designs that are originals. There’s adaptations, there’s copies, there’s influences. I think everything can be original, and nothing, perhaps?

How do you stay relevant, especially after all these years?

It’s difficult when you get older and when you get comfortable. You get comfortable and say, well, I like doing this, you know, I like being in my pajamas until 10 in the morning. I suppose if you’re a certain way, you’ll always try to be relevant. It’s hard because when you’re 60, you don’t want to act like you’re 25, because you’re not.

Do you feel like you’ve accomplished all your goals? And what more do you want to do?

I really want to make great pajamas. I’ve always wanted to do that. I really wanted to. It was what when I first started, they were like, “What’s the first license you want? I wanted to do pajamas.”

What do you think the future holds for the fashion industry?

I think it’s the same, just the platforms are different. It just keeps moving. But now we really have a tremendous social media influence so it’s different. Social media has changed everything, right?