Exhibit 99.1

                               Company Contact:      Ed Rosenfeld
                                                     Vice President, Strategic
                                                       Planning and Finance
                                                     Steven Madden, Ltd.
                                                     (718) 446-1800

                               Investor Relations/   Cara O'Brien/Melissa Myron
                               Press:                Financial Dynamics
                                                     (212) 850-5600
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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              STEVEN MADDEN, LTD. ANNOUNCES BETTER THAN ANTICIPATED
                        PRELIMINARY FIRST QUARTER RESULTS
              ~ Net Sales Expected to Increase Approximately 30% ~
              ~ Diluted EPS Expected to Range from $0.72 to $0.74 ~

LONG ISLAND CITY, N.Y. - April 20, 2006 - Steven Madden, Ltd. (NASDAQ: SHOO), a
leading designer, wholesaler and marketer of fashion footwear and accessories
for women, men and children, today announced preliminary results for the first
quarter.

         Net sales are expected to increase approximately 30% over last year to
$108 million, driven by stronger than anticipated sales in the wholesale
segment. Wholesale net sales increased approximately 46%, including the
contribution from recently acquired Daniel M. Friedman & Associates. Total
retail sales decreased approximately 4%, while same store sales were down
approximately 8% versus a 5.5% increase last year. The year-over-year decline in
the retail business is primarily due to planned declines in the accessories and
men's categories as well as a reduction in promotional sales.

         The Company's previously stated strategic initiatives to improve gross
margin are gaining traction at a faster pace than anticipated and delivered
strong tangible results during the quarter. As such, gross margins improved
across all divisions, and this was a key driver of the Company's solid and
better than planned first quarter performance. Operating expense leverage and an
increase in commission and licensing fee income from the Company's growing
private label business also contributed positively to the bottom line.

         Due to the broad based strength in the business, the Company expects
first quarter earnings per diluted share will be in the range of $0.72 to $0.74
based on approximately 14.6 million diluted weighted shares outstanding. This
compares to earnings per diluted share of $0.07 on 13.8 million diluted weighted
shares outstanding in the first quarter of last year.

         "We continued our strong and steady momentum during the first quarter
of 2006," said Jamieson Karson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Led by
Steve, our design team continued to deliver fresh, trend-right products to our
customers and this resulted in a very strong performance from our existing
brands. In addition, the first quarter reflects the contribution from new and
important additions to our business. Our new wholesale division, SM New York,
performed ahead of initial expectations, and recently acquired Daniel M.
Friedman posted solid initial results. At the same time, our operating
initiatives continue to gain traction and delivered greater than expected
results in the early part of the year. This broad based strength in the business
enabled us to generate record results, and we look forward to building on this
further as the year unfolds."

         The Company plans to report final first quarter results and provide
detail on the outlook for 2006 on May 2, 2006. The Company will hold a
conference call the same day at 10 a.m. Eastern Time.

         Steven Madden, Ltd. designs and markets fashion-forward footwear and
accessories for women, men and children. The shoes and accessories are sold
through company-owned retail stores, department stores, apparel and footwear


specialty stores, and on-line at www.stevemadden.com. The Company has several
licenses for the Steve Madden brand, including outerwear, eyewear, and hosiery
and owns and operates 99 retail stores, including its online store. The Company
is also the licensee for l.e.i. Footwear, Candie's Footwear and UNIONBAY Men's
Footwear.

Statements in this press release that are not statements of historical or
current fact constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking
statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other unknown
factors that could cause the actual results of the Company to be materially
different from the historical results or from any future results expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements. In addition to statements which
explicitly describe such risks and uncertainties readers are urged to consider
statements labeled with the terms "believes", "belief", "expects", "intends",
"anticipates" or "plans" to be uncertain and forward-looking. The forward
looking statements contained herein are also subject generally to other risks
and uncertainties that are described from time to time in the Company's reports
and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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