Steve Madden Partners With Glamear on China Expansion

The American footwear company Steve Madden is giving the Chinese market a third try with the launch of a joint venture with Glamear Trading Ltd., a Hong Kong-based brand management company.

Glamear will lead the expansion of the retail presence in mainland China for the flagship Steve Madden brand and Dolce Vita, the footwear label acquired by Steve Madden in 2014.

“We are thrilled to partner with Glamear to expand Steve Madden and Dolce Vita in China,” said Ed Rosenfeld, chief executive officer of Steve Madden.

“We see tremendous opportunity for both brands in this dynamic market, and Glamear is the ideal partner to help us realize our potential in the region,” Rosenfeld added.

For Jessie Chen, global president of Glamear and general manager for Steve Madden and Dolce Vita in Greater China, the partnership marks “a significant milestone in Glamear’s global expansion strategy.”

“We will work closely with the Steve Madden Group to bring cutting-edge fashion products to Chinese consumers through innovative thinking and precision operations,” Chen said.

Via the partnership, Steve Madden launched a pop-up store at Beijing’s Sanlitun Taikoo Li shopping mall last March, followed by the opening of a concept store within Shanghai’s upscale HKRI Taikoo Hui in April. Glamear plans to open a Steve Madden Xiaohongshu store in the second half of this year, completing its e-commerce matrix that currently includes Tmall and Douyin.

In April, Dolce Vita made its debut in mainland China with the launch of two stores, one at Beijing SKP and one at HKRI Taikoo Hui.

The Steve Madden brand first entered the Chinese market in 2008 with a flagship at Sanlitun Village, the previous iteration of Sanlitun Taikoo Li.

In 2017, the company established a joint venture with Suzhou C.banner Footwear, a subsidiary of the Hong Kong-listed footwear retailer C.banner International Holdings Ltd. The initial plan of setting up 150 retail outlets for Steve Madden by 2020 did not go as planned and the partnership was dissolved by 2019.

Glamear’s parent company Glamel is known for its partnership with Diane von Furstenberg. From 2020 to 2024, Glamel Trading Ltd. in Hong Kong oversaw DVF’s global operations, including design, production, marketing and distribution. From August 2024 onward, Glamel still handles distribution of DVF product in the Greater China region.