If there's one thing Steve Madden hates, it's a cup of joe all dressed up in soy-this and frappe-that, putting on airs like its coffee beans don't smell like, well, coffee beans.
''Coffee is a great flavor, it doesn't need to be f----- with,'' says Madden, 51, standing in his eponymous Aventura Mall store during a quick business trip through South Florida.
''One of my pet peeves in life is taking a simple thing,'' he says, and mucking it up.
Madden's own life hardly has been simple, but rather mucked up -- he was by turns a scrappy salesman, feted shoe designer, convicted felon and second-chance success story. Today, Madden is to Macy's what Christian Louboutin is to Neiman Marcus: a sure-fire label with stratospheric name recognition.
''I feel like the last two years, my celebrity has gone up, just based on superficial stuff, like people wanting to take a picture with me,'' Madden says.
Make that sometimes. ``Of course, they don't recognize me outside of New York.''
After nearly two decades of hustling to bring affordable, stylish, youthful shoes to the mid-market masses, Madden has 101 stores today, including Steven by Steve Madden shops, which carry his higher-end line.
His is the go-to brand for the woman who covets what she sees in fashion magazines but has to live on a budget. She's usually in her 20s or 30s and can tell you that hard pink and yellow are this season's It-colors. She can tolerate four-inch heels until sunrise.
And she's feeling queasy these days at the cash register.
''The economy is in retraction right now,'' Madden says. ``It's real. It's here. Our business is strong, but affected.''
Madden grew up in Lawrence, Long Island, a shoe stock boy during high school and salesman while at University of Miami. When he refused to stop partying, dad refused to pay tuition.
In 1990, Madden launched his own business with $1,100 and a western clog. A decade later, just as things were really going his way, he was charged with securities fraud and money-laundering for manipulating initial public offerings. He pleaded guilty in 2001 and spent 31 months in a Florida prison.
In 2006, Madden married his longtime operations manager, Wendy Ballew, a loyal visitor at the clink. They have infant twins, son Jack and daughter Stevie, and live in Manhattan's Upper East Side.
Steve Madden, the brand, also has its mojo back. Recent sales figures have hit $475 million. ''I still have a business to run,'' Madden says.
The Aventura store is Madden's laboratory, the place where he tests the salability of his designs. Madden says that South American, Brazilian and Israeli shoppers here snap up his creations so consistently that if he can't sell a shoe in Aventura, he probably can't sell it anywhere.
The dominatrix Totumm heels, for instance, are giving him trouble. Sales associates say shoppers sometimes pick them up, but don't often try them on. Madden walks to the cash register with the $129.95 shoe. Now it's $99.95.
On to Nordstrom. Madden's photo is displayed in the shoe department to promote his meet-and-greet the following day. But the young teenager trying on three pairs of shoes -- Madden's flats, and two others by Puma -- doesn't seem to notice the resemblance.
She puts on the Maddens, with their heavy gold chain across the toe strap. She wrinkles her nose. Goes for the Pumas.
Even Madden can't blame her. He stares at the brown, slipper-like shoes of his competitor. Its panels of fabric and suede overlap, athletic and architectural. He can't take his eyes off them.
''That one is adorable,'' he says.
His entourage of business associates stare, too. Madden walks over to his display, full of girly styles in candy colors.
''These look great,'' Madden says, picking up his Seeri thong sandals. The slingbacks are streamlined and adjustable. Fifty-nine bucks.
''OK, they're not Italian whatever,'' Madden says, sounding a little defensive. ``But they're fun, disposable shoes.''
A woman towing a teenage daughter and a Nordstrom bag stops him.
''I just bought a pair of your shoes,'' she gushes, ``and I love everything you do.''
Madden thanks her, and looks at her feet, something he does often. She's wearing platforms, brown leather. Not his.
The designer would like to know what makes women like her tick. To that end, he is reading the bestseller Eat, Pray, Love. ``I want to read what all these women I sell to are reading. I want to know what they're thinking.''
But just when you think Madden is starting to sound like the sensitive type, he reminds you that he's more corner deli than Starbucks.
''I used to name my shoes after girls,'' he says.
Then he adds, ``Girls I slept with.''
