Yet another big name in shoes is offering up styles tailored specifically for children with special needs.

Steve Madden is joining footwear brands like Stride Rite, Ugg and Nike and branching into the adaptive space.

For its fall collection, the company said that six of its “hottest kids styles” have been tweaked with features like extra-long Velcro, zippers with tabs, elastic laces, removable insoles and outsoles and wider widths in order to accommodate a variety of needs.

Danielle McCoy, director of corporate development and investor relations at Steve Madden, said that the move into adaptive footwear has been in the works since 2019.

“The Steve Madden Kids team attended the annual Runway of Dreams fashion show and heard first-hand from children with disabilities about how they wanted to wear the same shoes and clothing as their peers, but struggled to find styles that were accessible to them,” McCoy said. “It became clear that Steve Madden had an opportunity not only to fill a sizeable gap in the marketplace, but also to create a world where people with disabilities had the same opportunities to express themselves through fashion.”

McCoy said Steve Madden worked with Zappos — which features a collection of adaptive shoes and clothing — to conduct fit testing with children with disabilities and their families in order to identify ways to make existing styles adaptive.

The Steve Madden Kids Adaptive line is available through the company’s website as well as Zappos, Amazon, Dillard’s, Nordstrom and some independent stores.

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