Despite having no prior plans for a store, when a space became available in California’s Palisades Village, luxury shoe designer Tamara Mellon jumped on what she describes as: “The perfect place for us to open in terms of the location, the customer base, who our neighbors are, the size of the store and what we can do.”

The 400-sq.-ft. space is the first physical outpost for the eponymous direct-to-consumer luxury footwear brand. Resembling a shoe closet and breaking from tradition, the space leverages the e-commerce model to use valuable space for the front of house. All sizes of shoes are displayed and easily at reach—customers find the area with their size, then try out every pair of shoes Mellon has designed that season. This blending of self-service and internet browsing with the trappings of luxury—leather seating, plenty of shop assistants and a bright, clean interior—sees Mellon continue to disrupt an industry she helped build.

Shawmut Design and Construction is the General Contractor who has worked on this project.