Graham Belman

Tall, British and associated with one of Manhattan's old-guard retailers, Graham Belman can present an aloof first impression. But crack a good “naughty” joke and he admits he'll dissolve into laughter.

Now the visual director for Henri Bendel (New York), Belman has designed windows and visuals for a number of prestigious retailers, including Galleries Lafayette and Bonwit Teller. He has also freelanced for Bergdorf Goodman and Lord & Taylor.

It seems he learned his craft out of necessity. “My first industry job was having to dress windows at Focus Boutique, a store I owned and operated in England years ago. Back then, you learned by doing.”

While his sensibilities are still British, Belman — by his own definition — is very much a New Yorker. “Like every other New Yorker,” he says, “I migrated from somewhere else. It is very New York and very American to live with a mixture of cultures, races and nationalities. And it is very New York to remain here — living and working. So many can't cut it. New Yorkers are survivors.”

With each New York visual post, Belman says, he learned more about planning and teamwork. But the city is more than his educator; it's also his muse.

Everywhere. Stores and windows are obvious sources. But New York, as a whole, has become an eye-popper .. more so at night. Magazines are bigger and bolder than ever. Movies are technological marvels, full of fabulous imagery.

In New York, yes. It seems like big stores open every week. There are more opportunities now. However, finding them is still tricky, especially for a young person just starting out.

Beauty works like love. If you have it inside, you find it everywhere and in everything.

Those miracles that can happen at the last minute — how creative I can be when limited by time, materials, money, etc.

The physical act of installing a window. Once it's planned, I know instinctively what goes first and what goes last. If it's not working, I can always tell.

Temperamental divas and a beautiful window changed at the last minute — for the worse.

A smaller version of my living room.

Sexual fetishes, bad taste … but, in fact, nothing, because it has all been done.

Mies van der Rohe, Simon Doonan, Andrée Putman, Gene Moore, Linda Fargo, the Queen Mother and Dennis Rodman.