Steve Madden Ltd. announced Thursday that it has purchased the privately held women’s footwear label, Dolce Vita, for $60.3 million in cash.
Founded in 2001 by Van Lamprou and Nick Lucio, Dolce Vita has established itself as a fashion-forward footwear brand to wholesale customers, including better department stores like Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom, specialty boutiques and online at dolcevita.com.
The company owns brands Dolce Vita, DV by Dolce Vita, DV8 and J.D. Fisk. In 2013, Dolce Vita net sales reached approximately $111 million. Lamprou and Lucio will stay on to work with the Steve Madden team to help grow the brand.
Steve Madden chairman and CEO Edward Rosenfeld, said, “We are very pleased to complete the acquisition of Dolce Vita, a brand that is known for its chic, modern styles and strong following among trend-conscious consumers. We see significant opportunity to expand the business by combining Dolce Vita’s strengths—which include an outstanding brand and superior design—with our proven business model and infrastructure.” He added, “We are particularly pleased that the founders Van and Nick will remain with Dolce Vita and continue to lead the business into its next phase of growth.”
Recently, Steve Madden saw its net sales dip in the second quarter to $295.7 million from $297.6 million in the prior year period. Rosenfeld said the decline was to weak mall traffic and too few significant trends in women’s footwear.
The fashion footwear behemoth owns a deep portfolio of footwear brands, including its own Steve Madden, Steven by Steve Madden, Madden Girl, Freebird by Steven and Stevies. The company also designs, sources and markets footwear under the Brian Atwood, B Brian Atwood, Report and Betsey Johnson labels, and is the licensee for a number of companies including Olsenboye and Superga.