The Vogue-Faved Madison Boutique You Might Not Know About

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If you've ever Yelped longtime essential boutique Madison, perhaps you've been stumped by two mysterious outposts that are noticeably missing from its store listings. Located in Beverly Hills and Brentwood, both shops look and feel like the local designer chainlet, offering shoes and accessories from luxe European labels like Chloé, Casadei, Gianvito Rossi, Laurance Dacade, and many others. The stores on Brighton Way (which has stood there for 25 years) and Barrington Place (not far from Perfect Saturday haunt Brentwood Village) are hardly high-end copycats; they share both a name and history with the cult-favorite essential chain.

Co-founded former Fred Segal Melrose buyer David Assil and Mark Goldstein (who runs the more well-known Madison stores with his wife, Emily), the original Madison debuted on Melrose Avenue in 1989, and the duo decided to part ways in 1995. "Mark focused on clothing while I stayed in shoes and built the business," Assil tells us; his stores were among the select boutiques to debut Puma's Solange-designed kicks. "With my partner, Bridget, we became the second independent boutique in high-end designers only behind Jeffries [and we were named] one of the top 100 stores in the US by Italian Vogue."

"Then came the crash of 2008 and we started to rethink our strategy. In the years 1997 to 2003, we were one of the first stores to bring in designers into the U.S. such as Miu Miu, Christian Louboutin, Pedro Garcia, Lanvin, Jimmy Choo, and many many others," says Assil.

"However we started to notice large price increases with lower quality as well as design as many moved production into China," Assil tells us. "So we began to look for new great designers or designers that had reenergized their collections by hiring new talent [and manufacturing] great Italian factories."

Assil also reveals that there are celebrity collabs on the horizon; stay tuned for more.
· Madison [Official Site]