Madewell Sandals

What went wrong

The notice saysThe metal shank can dislodge and break through bottom of the outsole, posing a fall hazard.

This was the second time in a few weeks that Madewell recalled footwear for a fall hazard; the first was Sandals on August 20, 2015. Both notices name the metal part as the part that fails. The notices are separate, each with its own description and dates, so check every pair you own against its own notice.

How to tell if your pair is affected

Product description in the noticeThis recall involves all sizes and colors of the Madewell Katya sandal from the spring 2015 collection. The metallic sand or rose gold-colored leather sandals have a wide strap with a lace-up thong. The style number C5840 is located on a sticker on the outsole.

Numbers named in the notice that you can match against the label, box or receipt:

• C5840

What the notice tells you to do

RemedyConsumers should immediately stop using the recalled shoes and contact Madewell to return them for a full refund.

Recall contact, as printed in the notice: Madewell Inc. toll-free at 866-544-1937 anytime, email [email protected] or online at www.madewell.com and click on Important Notice for more information.

The recall is 11 years old, and the last pairs were sold about 11 years ago. The notice gives a phone number, an email address and a website for the firm; contact details that old may no longer work, while the CPSC notice stays online as the record of the recall.

How this recall compares

• With about 570 units, this is the 92nd largest of the 95 footwear recalls in our archive that give a U.S. unit count. The median recall in the archive covers about 7,200 units, so this one is well below typical size.
• 26 other footwear recalls in the archive cite the same kind of hazard (falls), 9 of them in women’s footwear. The earliest in this group dates from 1998.
• The notice puts the sales window at about 5 months (April 2015 to August 2015), against a median of 7 months across recalls that state one. The recall came 1 month after the last sale date.
• The notice gives a price of $100. For sandals, clogs and flip-flops in the archive the typical stated price is about $24, so this pair sat at the pricier end of its group.
• The notice cites 1 report before the recall. 36 of the 95 detailed notices in the archive cite no incidents at all.

Year, part, store and origin

• 2015 brought 4 footwear recalls in our archive, covering about 55,070 units in all. This was the 4th of the year by date and the 4th largest by units.
• The notice names the metal part as the part that fails. 6 other footwear recalls in the archive name the same part in their hazard statement; the most recent is Sandals (2015).
• Made in Brazil. 3 of the 91 notices in the archive that name a country list Brazil (3%).
• 1 report on about 570 units works out to roughly 175 reports per 100,000 units. The median across the 55 recalls that give both figures is 16, so this recall drew more reports per pair than most.
• At the stated price, the 570 units come to roughly $57,000 of retail sales.

Against the other Madewell recall

Madewell also recalled Sandals on August 20, 2015. This recall came 1 month after it. It was the smaller of the two, 570 units against 50,600. Both notices give the same kind of failure (the metal part), so treat a pair from either line the same way. These sold for more, $100 against $60 to $80. They were on sale for a shorter time, about 5 months against 6 months. The notice cites 1 report, the earlier one 8.

Comparisons use the 103 footwear recalls in our archive, read from the CPSC recall database on October 20, 2026. See data and methods.