Steve Madden Ltd. announced Monday that it had completed its acquisition of privately held apparel brand Almost Famous for $52 million in cash.
Almost Famous designs and markets products under its own brands as well as private level brands from other retailers, according to the release. It had been the exclusive licensee of Madden NYC apparel since Madden launched the line in 2022.
Edward Rosenfeld, chairman and CEO of Steve Madden said the acquisition “further enhance[s]” the company’s apparel platform.
“With its expertise in junior apparel and strength in value-priced channels, Almost Famous is a strong complement to our existing Steve Madden apparel business, which is focused on contemporary styling and is primarily distributed in department stores and e-commerce retailers,” Rosenfeld said.
Almost Famous, which had an annual revenue of $163 million for the year ended on Sept. 30, distributes its products to wholesale customers including mass merchants, department stores, off-price retailers and chain stores, per the release.
“We are excited to join the Steve Madden family,” Peter Kossoy and Robbie Regina, former owners and co-presidents of Almost Famous, said in the release. “We are proud of what we’ve built at Almost Famous and look forward to partnering with Steve Madden to take the business to new heights in the coming years.”
Kossoy and Regina will work as co-presidents of the Almost Famous division of Steve Madden.
The news comes after Steve Madden reported challenges with its wholesale business in its most recent quarterly earnings report in August. For its second quarter, wholesale revenue decreased 20.8% to $314.6 million compared with the same period last year. That includes a 19.4% decrease in wholesale footwear revenue and a 24.6% decrease in wholesale accessories and apparel revenue.
Overall, it logged $445.3 million in the second quarter, a 16.8% decrease from the same period the prior year.
Steve Madden’s other brand holdings include Dolce Vita, Betsey Johnson, Blondo, Greats and its namesake brand. It licenses the footwear and handbag categories for the Anne Klein brand.
