New York, NY, May 3, 2010- In November 2009, Zappos.com, a leader in online apparel and footwear sales, teamed up with Steve Madden, one of America’s most successful footwear designers, for “Steve Madden’s SOLE SEARCH powered by Zappos.com- a viral marketing program using the Brickfish social media platform.  On Friday April 30, 2010, an official winner for the contest was declared by Steve Madden himself, at his showroom in New York City.

For finalists Andrea Johnson, Steven Cannella, and Stephanie Figuccio, the journey began late last year when they created unique shoe designs with the chance at having them produced by Steve Madden and sold online at Zappos.com. Months later, these three lucky consumers were selected out of thousands of submissions, and awarded an all-expense paid trip to Las Vegas and New York, along with the opportunity to pitch their shoe design to Steve Madden and the Zappos.com team.

After arriving in Las Vegas on April 28, 2010 and touring Zappos.com’s headquarters, the finalists enjoyed a series of events from lunches with industry executives to pitching their designs, followed by a memorable performance by “O” Cirque du Soleil.  The following morning, the contestants and their guest boarded a plane headed to New York City where they were V.I.P. guests at Paper Magazine’s Beautiful People Party, a highly regarded industry event sponsored by Steve Madden, including a live performance by The Gossip.

On April 30, 2010 following a lunch at Koi in Bryant Park, the contestants returned to Steve Madden’s showroom in Manhattan.  Greeted by members of the press and members of both Steve Madden and Zappos.com, Stephanie Figgucio was declared the contest’s official winner.  Stephanie’s design will be available to purchase on Zappos.com in Q4. 

         Stephanie’s winning design         Fred Mosler, Zappos.com; Stephanie Figuccio (winning design);
                                                         Steve Madden, Andrea Johnson, Steven Cannella, Steven Hill