SHOO Steven Madden Ltd

LONG ISLAND CITY, N.Y., June 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Steven Madden, Ltd. (NASDAQ:SHOO), a leading designer and marketer of fashion footwear and accessories for women, men and children, today announced it has entered into two new license agreements for watches under the Steve Madden and Steven by Steve Madden brands and girls apparel under the Stevies brand, respectively. Vestal Group, Inc. will design, manufacture, and distribute the Steve Madden and Steven by Steve Madden watches which will debut in Spring 2007 and be distributed through better department stores, specialty stores, and boutiques, as well as Steve Madden company stores. The Company also entered into a license agreement with Mamiye Brothers to design, manufacture, and distribute a line of Stevies brand girls apparel, which will be sold exclusively through J.C. Penney beginning Holiday 2006. The new offerings will complement the Company's existing lines of footwear, handbags, and belts as well as other licensed merchandise which currently includes eyewear, outerwear, and hosiery. "We look forward to launching our new watch collection and believe our customers will respond enthusiastically to this category," said Daniel Friedman, Executive Licensing Director of Steven Madden, Ltd. "In addition, we are pleased to be broadening the reach of our Stevies brand with the exclusive apparel collection for J.C. Penney. Importantly, we are very excited that Steve and our creative teams will be working with two highly respected names in the industry. Vestal Group has worked with leading lifestyle brands such as L.A.M.B., paul frank, and Rocawear while Mamiye Brothers is a leader in the tween girls apparel market based on its many successful licenses, including Guess, mary-kateandashley, and Disney. Both have a proven track record of quality and design excellence." Rudy Theale, President of Vestal Licensing, stated, "We see the partnership with Steven Madden, Ltd. as not only a cultural fit but an opportunity to add style and a true 'pop' to the department store fashion watch business. We believe our speed to market coupled with the contribution from Steve Madden and his forward thinking design team will quickly position the Madden timepiece collection as a leader in the fashion watch space." "The new license agreements further our stated strategy to become a global lifestyle branded company," said Jamieson Karson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Steven Madden, Ltd. "The new categories will leverage our core footwear category, further expand the reach of our brands, and enhance our opportunities for future growth." About Steven Madden, Ltd Steven Madden, Ltd. designs and markets fashion-forward footwear and accessories for women, men and children. The shoes and accessories are sold through company-owned retail stores, department stores, apparel and footwear specialty stores, and on-line at http://www.stevemadden.com/. The Company has several licenses for the Steve Madden brand, including eyewear, outerwear, and hosiery and owns and operates 96 retail stores, including its online store. The Company is also the licensee for l.e.i. Footwear, Candie's Footwear and UNIONBAY Men's Footwear. About Vestal Group, Inc. The Vestal Group was born from the Vestal Watch Company, which was founded nearly a decade ago in Newport Beach, California. In the past two years, Vestal has acquired a unique range of licenses with highly respectable brands that appeal to a broad customer base. Vestal branded watches are available at select specialty stores nationwide and internationally. http://www.vestalwatch.com/main.php About Mamiye Brothers Mamiye Brothers is the largest manufacturer of tween girls apparel in the country and services all tiers of distribution with brands such as Guess, Bongo, mary-kateandashley, Disney, and Nickelodeon. Statements in this press release that are not statements of historical or current fact constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other unknown factors that could cause the actual results of the Company to be materially different from the historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In addition to statements which explicitly describe such risks and uncertainties readers are urged to consider statements labeled with the terms "believes", "belief", "expects", "intends", "anticipates" or "plans" to be uncertain and forward-looking. The forward looking statements contained herein are also subject generally to other risks and uncertainties that are described from time to time in the Company's reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. DATASOURCE: Steven Madden, Ltd. CONTACT: Ed Rosenfeld, Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning & Finance, Steven Madden, Ltd., +1-718-446-1800; Investor Relations: Cara O'Brien, or Melissa Myron, Press: Allison Altmann, all of Financial Dynamics, +1-212-850-5600, for Steven Madden, Ltd. Web site: http://www.stevemadden.com/ http://www.vestalwatch.com/main.php

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