Marla Aaron Jewelry Settles into Bergdorf Goodman with Shop-in-Shop

NEW YORK-BASED Marla Aaron Jewelry’s shop-in-shop – the brand’s first activation in an American department store – debuted earlier this year and ran through March 2022 in the ultra-luxe Bergdorf Goodman’s jewelry department, with a refined yet playful experience.

📷 Richard Cadan, Fairfield, Conn.

1. VERITABLE VIEWS

Custom wallpaper, the same that lines Marla Aaron’s NYC showroom, features decorative illustrations of the brand’s signature locks. Overall, the design was intended to “bring as much of our showroom experience to Bergdorf Goodman as we possibly could,” says Marla Aaron.

2. TOP TO BOTTOM

Clad in paper meant to resemble fordite, the ceiling’s striated pattern references the entrancing material (in an oversized, blown-up version) that Marla Aaron utilizes in some of her designs. (Fordite is a substance made from old automotive paint.)

3. GUMBALLS GALORE

Small, clear plastic eggs holding the brand’s signature “Babylock” pieces in sterling silver are housed within this jewelry-dispensing gumball machine that works with special coins, which guests can purchase. The attraction was inspired by Marla Aaron’s jewelry vending machine, a headline-maker which initially launched at the Brooklyn Museum.

4. TAKE A PEEK

A display case highlights some of the fine jewelry on neck forms alongside a mix of tool pegboards in bright orange hues and other unusual decor, like an uncut piece of fordite and oversized spiral props that reference the threading used in the brand’s locks.

5. LOCK IT UP

“We took lock components and blew them up as part of the displays,” says Aaron about the jewelry cases, which have metal detailing mimicking the closure of a lock. Delicate brass details on these fixtures and throughout harken back to industrial shapes, hardware and toolboxes.