Shoebaloo Amsterdam by Mvsa architects

A purveyor of stylish shoes and bags since the 1980s, Shoebaloo today has grown into seven stores across the Netherlands, and we dare say they've very much monopolized the luxury segment. Keen on trends, the retailer has always sought to create matching retail settings for its merchandise, and for its latest shop, adjacent to an existing men's store in Amsterdam's canal district, Shoebaloo has once again enlisted the services of Mvsa architects, the dutch architecture practice which signed up for the majority of its stores. Similar to their previous and much publicized project for Shoebaloo elsewhere in the dutch capital, it's a renewed exercise of haute futurism, and one that elegantly mocks the building's historic façade.

Upon entering the store, shoppers are time-warped to an artificial grotto, made up of meticulously stacked and translucent hi-macs components. Continuing the undulating play of lines of the walls, displays are fashioned from thinner layers and underlit with led's. these man-made elements are paired with slabs of luxurious marble, laid in elliptic configurations that give the retail space a dynamic edge, and a dark space ceiling.

Furnishings consist of two benches and a sales counter in an equally stacked design. the new shoebaloo store complements the men's store next door, and will offer trophy women's shoe and bag designs by a string of luxury brands, including Gucci, Lanvin, Alexander Wang, Prada and Maison Martin Margiela. The two stores combined now make up shoebaloo's first and only flagship store. location: koningsplein 5-7 [centrum].