Steve Madden, Alice+Olivia CEO spar over design-copying allegations
Designer fashion brand Alice+Olivia's Stacey Bendet encountered Madden in a hotel lobby while she was with her children
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Fashion powerhouse Stacey Bendet and previously convicted designer Steve Madden faced off in a very public argument over Madden’s alleged history of copying her work, according to social media and a report.
Bendet, the CEO and creative director of Alice + Olivia, encountered Madden in the lobby of an unspecified hotel, while she was with at least one of her children, she told her 1 million Instagram followers.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SHOO | STEVEN MADDEN LTD. | 42.79 | -0.44 | -1.02% |
“Honey if you’re gonna be rude you can go f--- yourself,” Madden is heard yelling at Bendet in the footage shared to her social media page. Her 4-year-old child was with her at the time, she said.
Bendet initially posted a longer video but deleted a large portion, which was later obtained by TMZ.
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“You can go f--- yourself if you’re gonna be rude to me. OK? You copy people all the time,” Madden continues, according to the video shared by TMZ.
At the heart of the matter is the feuding designers’ ongoing dispute over Bendet’s “StaceFace” design, which she says Madden stole from her and used on his own brand’s products, including purses, according to the report.
Steve Madden, left; Stacey Bendet, right (Getty Images)
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“You said, ‘If I’m not copying people I’m not doing a good job’? That was you,” she told Madden in the video.”
Speaking of the StaceFace design, she told him: “I have it trademarked.”
Madden later apologized for his actions, telling Page Six: “I’m sorry for losing my temper with Stacey. I have the utmost respect for her … I was raised better than that."
After the argument, Bendet posted another video to her Instagram, thanking her friends and followers for their support.
“I just want to thank everyone for the outpouring of support,” she said, in part. “I called him out for copying so many of my StaceFace designs.”
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“Brands like his can’t be allowed to do that,” she continued. “They can’t go and knock off designers’ product, put it under a different label and think that’s OK. And, in truth, as a person, I think he just showed his true colors, which is full-on pig."
Madden, whose self-named brand first rose to fame – and a $200 million fortune – with the chunky shoe design, pleaded guilty in 2001 to federal charges of securities fraud and money laundering.
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Madden was initially arrested in June 2000 in connection with reaping the benefits of manipulating 23 initial public stock offerings, including the 1993 IPO of his own company. They were underwritten, in part, by “Wolf of Wall Street” Jordan Belfort’s Stratton Oakmont Inc.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This story was updated to include a response from Steve Madden.