Steve Madden: Crisis of the Sole

Outside, twentysomethings stroll down Prince Street lugging tall boxes containing Madden's chunky-heeled version of this season's hot boots. Down below, in the subway, hundreds of ads bear his name and company logo, as well as computer-distorted photographs of doe-eyed teenage hipsters wearing oversize shoes. Tonight, Madden will take his courtside seat at the Knicks game beside his golf buddy and board chairman, Charles Koppelman, the entertainment impresario who recently spearheaded the takeover of Ford Models.

But here at Jerry's, Madden is so jittery he accidentally tears his Knicks ticket in two. Dressed in jeans, a white untucked oxford, and a Syracuse Orangemen baseball cap, the 43-year-old CEO looks unsettlingly collegiate. "I tell everyone I'm 42!" he shouts, in a voice that's reminiscent of Richard Simmons and P. T. Barnum. "I lie!" he adds sarcastically. "I don't know why." His lawyer winces, and Madden is off on a jag recalling the early days, before he had a $200 million public company, celebrity customers like Julia Stiles, and a die-hard teen following that lines up for hours just to meet him at his stores.