Harrods opens 'Shoe Heaven'

The London luxury department store has unveiled a brand new footwear department, named Shoe Heaven.

Located suitably high-up, on the fifth floor of the Harrods store in London's smart Knightsbridge district, and pushing 42,000 sq ft, the space contains 17 footwear boutiques with collections from over 50 of the biggest luxury brands including Christian Dior, Chanel, Christian Louboutin, Valentino, Manolo Blahnik and Louis Vuitton.

Shoes are "becoming an ever increasingly important part of the way a woman dresses, and indeed a key part of our business," explained Helen Davids of Harrods; "the space will be more ‘Penthouse' and less ‘Shoe Floor,'" she added, in what is one of the store's biggest renovations to date.

The luxe marble-floored space was designed by the late David Collins, the celebrated London interior designer who died last summer. Alongside the shoes and the displays, the space also contains velvet banquet seating and private shopping suites, with staff on hand to provide an experience that is "more five-star hotel than shoe department," according to Harrods.