Jail seems to have helped designer Steve Madden channel his inner Queens.
Best known for pink moon boots, leopard print pumps, and ads featuring balloon-headed, Edward Gorey-esque fashion victims, Madden is launching a new upscale line of footwear and dresses set to sashay into U.S. stores in Spring 2007.
It's all part of the mass-market cobbler's reinvention after serving 41 months in a Florida prison for stock fraud. Slick fashion snapper Miles Aldridge shot the new campaign, which carries the tagline: "Steven by Steven Madden: London. Paris. Queens."
Queens?
In the glitzy world of fashion where Madden roams, being from Queens typically isn't something one wears on their cap-sleeve, but his ad people apparently believe giving a shout-out to his Long Island City roots will be seen as "refreshing."
In Style, Lucky, Glamour, and Cosmo will kick off the ad blitz in their upcoming November issues. Can overpriced lofts and glam-packed corner boites in Long Island City be too far off? Um, yeah.