v3.6.0.2

Investments (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Jan. 28, 2017	Jan. 30, 2016
Schedule of Investments, Reported Amounts, by Category [Line Items]
Short-term investments	$ 98,530	$ 226,027
Current available for sale Securities Unrecognized Holding Gain	101	477
Current Available for Sale Securities Unrecognized Holding Loss	(364)	(435)
Long-term investments	77,904	71,953
Long-Term Available for Sale Securities Unrecognized Holding Gain	133	22
Long-Term Available for Sale Securities Unrecognized Holding Loss	(111)	(222)
Available-for-sale Securities [Member] | Carrying value
Schedule of Investments, Reported Amounts, by Category [Line Items]
Short-term investments	98,793	225,985
Long-term investments	$ 77,882	$ 72,153

X

- Definition

Current Available for Sale Securities Unrecognized Holding Loss

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	dsw_CurrentAvailableforSaleSecuritiesUnrecognizedHoldingLoss
Namespace Prefix:	dsw_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Current available for sale Securities Unrecognized Holding Gain

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	dsw_CurrentavailableforsaleSecuritiesUnrecognizedHoldingGain
Namespace Prefix:	dsw_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Long-Term Available for Sale Securities Unrecognized Holding Gain

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	dsw_LongTermAvailableforSaleSecuritiesUnrecognizedHoldingGain
Namespace Prefix:	dsw_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Long-Term Available for Sale Securities Unrecognized Holding Loss

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	dsw_LongTermAvailableforSaleSecuritiesUnrecognizedHoldingLoss
Namespace Prefix:	dsw_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

The total amount of investments that are intended to be held for an extended period of time (longer than one operating cycle).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.12)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LongTermInvestments
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

X

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfInvestmentIncomeReportedAmountsByCategoryLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Amount of investments including trading securities, available-for-sale securities, held-to-maturity securities, and short-term investments classified as other and current.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(2))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.7-03(a)(1)(g))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6879938&loc=d3e572229-122910

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.9-03(5))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6876686&loc=d3e534808-122878

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.9-03(6))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6876686&loc=d3e534808-122878

Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.9-03(4))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6876686&loc=d3e534808-122878

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ShortTermInvestments
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_GainLossOnInvestmentsByCategoryAxis=us-gaap_AvailableforsaleSecuritiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_MajorTypesOfDebtAndEquitySecuritiesAxis=us-gaap_BondsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: