Salon Style: Bergdorf Goodman’s Shoe Department by John Rawlins

After seven years as design director at Bergdorf Goodman in New York, John Rawlins developed a sixth sense about the style expectations of carriage-trade customers. He put that knowledge into practice when, wearing his other hat, at Rawlins Design, he came back to renovate the shoe department. Charged with creating a near-residential eclecticism, he divided the 6,000 square feet into five salons in addition to uncovering a penthouse-worthy Fifth Avenue-facing window that had been hidden for decades.

He sprinkled each salon with plush upholstery and quirky accessories. Inventive displays-from Italian vintage tea carts to shagreen-covered cubes and an adjustable brass étagère-afford impromptu merchandising. In the pair of VIP shopping suites, he ramped up the glam factor with pearlized resin doors, opalescent wall covering, and white-onyx tabletops.