Inside 20 Years of Marc Fisher Footwear: How Marc Fisher and Susan Itzkowitz Built the Industry Powerhouse
Billboard Women in Music 2025
In its first 20 years in business, Marc Fisher Footwear has proven it has a knack for brand building, whether that’s by acquiring storied shoe labels, working as a licensing partner to fashion giants or establishing its own distinct in-house collections.
And the company, which was founded in 2005 by Marc Fisher, alongside president Susan Itzkowitz, has been on a hot streak ever since its entry into the shoe business.
“We started with a bang,” recalled Fisher. “We got the license of Guess, which we still have, and that is what put us on the map.”
Its deal with Guess was soon followed by other high-profile licenses, including PVH Corp.’s Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein labels. In 2018, Marc Fisher Footwear signed on with Authentic Brands Group to license Nine West and Bandolino, kicking off a partnership that now also includes Hunter, Rockport and others. And most recently, Kenneth Cole Productions Inc. tapped Fisher for men’s footwear.
Meanwhile, the firm also operates several in-house brands, including Marc Fisher, Marc Fisher LTD and Easy Spirit, as well as Indigo Rd. and Earth.
When it comes to selecting potential licenses and acquisitions, chief financial officer Matt Burris said that financial projections are only part of the calculus. “The ultimate decision often hinges on more subjective factors: Do Marc and his team connect with the brand’s DNA and its ability to create compelling new lines each season? In many instances, Marc’s intuition often aligns with the financials before I even present them,” Burris explained.
The company’s success comes as no surprise. As the son of the late Nine West co-founder Jerome Fisher, Marc Fisher grew up immersed in shoes. He joined Nine West after graduating college in 1980 and took over the company’s private-label division in 1984. He held that post until 1999, when Jones Apparel Group acquired the company. (It was there that he and Itzkowitz first forged their bond — she joined the Nine West executive team in 1986.)
While his father retired from the company following the acquisition, Fisher stayed on under Jones Apparel’s ownership due to his contract. That moment was the catalyst for what was to come next.
“I didn’t want to work for a big company with people I really didn’t enjoy working with. That was the main reason [to start our own],” he said. “I wanted to learn for myself. I didn’t want to listen to people who knew nothing about the shoe business tell me about the shoe business.”
But taking the leap into entrepreneurship came with both risks and rewards, recalled Itzkowitz. “It was quite a new experience, having been at Nine West, which was a major corporation, to starting in Marc’s garage,” she said. “[But] when Marc and I talked about joining up together to do this new venture, it offered an opportunity for the two of us to create the kind of company we wanted.”
From then on, product and people became the lifelines for the business.
Here, Fisher and Itzkowitz look back on two decades at the helm, how the industry has changed and their vision for success.
What did you take away from your time at Nine West that set you up for your next chapter?
Marc Fisher: “We were trained how to work hard and we were trained to know our business, which was the shoe business. I spent my early life there; l learned and I was lucky. I got to work with my dad and Vince Camuto and Wayne Weaver.”
Susan Itzkowitz: “Beyond the education about footwear, I learned how to take risks. I learned how to manage situations. I learned about culture and what’s important and what’s not. I learned about how to really scale a business.”
When you first started, what was the vision? And how closely have you adhered to it?
MF: “We wanted to have a working environment that not only we enjoyed every day, but [that made] our employees mutually enjoy going to work. That was always our goal. Sure, we wanted a big business, we wanted to be successful, we wanted to make really nice shoes — that’s just your daily motivations — but we wanted to work in a place we enjoyed. And we lost that at some point after Nine West was sold, so we wanted to bring back that love of going to work every day.”
SI: “We also looked to start a company that was very product-focused, a company that was nimble and agile, could make decisions quickly and react to things, a company that could take risks and it was OK. We also wanted a company that had a kind and caring and inclusive environment for the people who worked with us. That was extremely important to us. As a result, I think our company still functions like a small company. We are a team, and everybody works together for the good of the total.”
How are you cultivating future leaders at the company?
SI: “We work very hard at teaching people and mentoring people. We try to promote from within whenever we can. We work as a team. People feel very committed and feel very involved. From a management perspective, we’re very hands on, and I think what distinguishes us is that we’re very committed to nurturing our people to develop them and to make sure that they’re moving forward — if they want to. We have many of the same people we started with who are still with us today, which is a testament to [the culture]. People who thrive the best in our company are people who have an entrepreneurial spirit.”
So much has changed in 20 years. What were some of the biggest growth drivers for the company in the early years?
SI: “First, we built the foundation of the company. That was a big win. We hired great people right from the start. We connected with our partners in Asia and then connected with our Italian design team.”
MF: “It all starts with the product because you can’t have a great shoe company without great shoes, so our focus to this very day, it’s all about the product. That’s all I do every day, work on product. It goes back to my very beginnings in the shoe business. That’s what was always drilled into me.”
SI: “That really set our direction. Marc is involved in every single aspect of product development. He has the whole product development for all 18 brands. And he’s pretty damn good at it.”
What other decisions helped the business evolve?
SI: “We started making sneakers. And now we ship tens of millions of pairs of sneakers every year. It’s a huge opportunity for the company.”
MF: “Then there’s Easy Spirit. That was a moment where we got into a different sector of business and it helped propel us. Because now we have Rockport, which is men’s comfort. We have Earth. We have a lot of different segments within the comfort category that we’re trying to grow every day.”
You have an incredible track record with acquisitions and licensing deals. How have you been able to grow existing brands while adding new ones?
SI: “When we think about acquisitions, we always look at all the opportunities out there. But, obviously, we have to look at it from a financial perspective: how it would fit into the portfolio, whether it fills the space within the portfolio, whether it would be something that will further drive our business. We’re very respectful to the DNA of every brand, and we don’t want to sabotage any brand with another one. In terms of licensing, we’re very selective in terms of what types of licenses we want to take on. It really is a function of what they are, what the brand means. We’ve shown over time that we can take a license and diversify it and grow it very quickly. We can take a dress shoe brand and expand it into casuals and sneakers and boots. But we are selective in what we do, and we’re fortunate that we have the infrastructure.”
What do you think have been the biggest changes to the shoe industry in the last two decades?
SI: “The shoe business has changed dramatically since we launched, whether it’s the way the consumer has shifted from dress to casual, or that sneakers have become something that’s acceptable in all situations. Or, you know, the fact that people are working either remote or in a hybrid situation.”
What has stayed the same?
SI: “The one thing that has never changed is the customer. She still wants what she wants. She wants it when she wants it, and she wants it at value.”
MF: “The shoe business has changed in a thousand ways. We could sit here for hours and talk about how it’s changed, how the retailers have changed, how the markets changed, how the price points have changed. But I’m doing the same thing I did 20 years ago, 30 years ago when it comes to my daily product job.”
How have you been able to keep up with these changes and challenges through the years?
MF: “If you don’t stay agile, you don’t stay in business. If women want sneakers, we’ll make sneakers. If women want high heels, we’ll make high heels. We are agile every day; we’re pivoting every day. It’s always pushing, moving, changing and it’s constant.”
SI: “We’re also very focused in how we look at product in terms of not only the design, but quality, fit and the value. We are consistent in terms of what we deliver. We don’t cut corners. We deliver on all our commitments, whether it’s to somebody or in terms of the product. We’re in eight countries and over 100 factories, and we have a very nimble supply chain, so we can move and shape things the way we need to. And we can continue to scale without losing sight of quality or the fit or design integrity. That’s really important.”
Looking ahead, what are you most excited about now? Where do you see the biggest opportunities?
SI: “We’re excited about our men’s business. We have Guess, we have Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein. More recently, we have Rockport and now Kenneth Cole, so we’re excited about the fact that we’re really in the men’s business now and that we’ve diversified all our lines. We’re also excited about strengthening our digital channels and our ecommerce. We run six e-comm sites, so we’re excited about being able to maximize that.”
MF: “When I think about opportunities, I think about how some companies out there may have a lot of money, but they don’t have a lot of good shoe people, and those are the companies that ultimately are going to have big problems. We are good shoe people. My father would always say, ‘The best shoe always wins.’ And that’s why we will win for the future, because we will have the best shoes, at the best value, at the best quality for that consumer to buy. And that’s one thing you can’t lose perspective on.”
