“Nowadays we live in a small world. Speaking my mind, our opening ourselves on a worldwide scale rescued us. That’s why I consider customs duties, applied to commodities, to be a very bad idea as a matter of fact. The way such measure is being designed and implemented does not make sense either: hopefully they are going to change it”. The fashion system, following the US industrial establishment, is standing up against the commercial war in which the United States and China are currently involved. Among others, Steve Madden has recently expressed his disapproval while giving a speech at the “Advertising Week” forum, held in New York at the beginning of October. Madden, a fashion designer and footwear entrepreneur, claimed his ability to “lead the digital and social media revolution”, but he feels “powerless” while facing some political decisions that may jeopardize consumers freedom and employment in the fashion industry: “Relations with China turned out to be of paramount importance and very profitable for the United States: they have been successfully working for 25 years. They are now trying to disrupt them, but we live in a small world and we cannot support ourselves on our own. At the same time – he added – in China they are developing their middle class: Chinese workers are the ones who create Madden branded shoes, which we subsequently sell back to them. That’s great indeed”.
Commercial war between the USA and China “looks appalling”, says Steve Madden
