Exclusive: Steve Madden Partners With Hilos to Offer On-Demand Footwear
Steve Madden is partnering with Hilos, the on-demand product creation platform, to speed up its footwear making process.
Via a new partnership, Steve Madden will utilize Hilos’ 3D printing and generative design technology to condense its shoe development process for certain new products. This will allow the brand to create and deliver shoes in as little as 72 hours and will help avoid overproduction by starting its creation process only once an order is placed. The brand announced the partnership Tuesday during a session at TechCrunch Disrupt.
“Steve Madden has always been about speed, but that’s increasingly come at odds with becoming a more sustainable company,” Steve Madden’s chief sustainability officer Gregg Meyer said in a statement. “This Hilos partnership is revolutionary for us because we can produce faster, make less, but sell more. This is just the start of something big for both of us.”
Founded in 2019, Hilos creates and ships a 3D printed shoe to a customer within 72 hours of an order placement. This responsive model allows the company to avoid excess production — and the 3D printing system helps avoid manufacturing waste that is common in the months-long cycle it typically takes to produce a pair of shoes overseas. Hilos, which stands for Human Innovation Lab Operating System, lets humans design their own shoe sketches on its platform but uses AI to accelerate the process.
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Hilos began testing its solution with its own concept footwear line that launched in May 2021 with an open-toe chunky heel called the Georgia. Since then, the technology captured the attention of other sustainably-minded brands looking to utilize the system in their own network. In October 2021, Hilos partnered with shoe brand Helm to launch a line powered by this technology. The Steve Madden partnership will be similar, but specific branding and messaging for the line is still in development. The products will be available for purchase in Steve Madden’s DTC channels.
Hilos recently closed a $5 million funding round in 2023 to fuel product creation and partnerships with other brands. The funding round included investors such as former Nike chief operating officer Eric Sprunk, Nike’s retired VP of global footwear sourcing and manufacturing Greg Bui, XRC Labs, Better Ventures and Builders VC and brought the company’s total funding to $7 million.
