Al-Fayed: The Pattern

Harrods sits on Brompton Road in the Knightsbridge district of London.

It's been there since 1905, an entire block of over a million square feet.

It's the largest department store in Europe and probably the most iconic in the world.

You might have visited yourself.

The building is remarkable.

A grand display of late Victorian architecture, covered in an opulent terracotta facade.

Awnings reach out over the street, coloured in a shade known as Harrods Green.

The logo written in gold.

And towering above it all, a famous Baroque dome.

The Harrods motto, in Latin, naturally, is omnia omnibus ubiquae.

All things for all people, everywhere.

As long as you could afford it.

Over the years, Harrods has sold crystal bathtubs, superyachts, diamond-studded bottles of perfume, Warhols and Picassos.

Exotic animals like lemurs and lions have been traded over their registers.

And if you were just window shopping, you might catch a glimpse of a celebrity.

From Oscar Wilde and Charlie Chaplin to Michael Jackson and the Queen, Harrods has a reputation as the one-stop shop for those with status and money.

So perhaps the most important thing Harrods sold was Harrods.

15 million shoppers a year buying into that feeling of luxury and glamour, all underwritten by a gold leaf signature.

This was the face of Harrods that was presented to the world.

But many of the young women who worked there saw another side to the iconic department store.

I remember my first day there, when I was told that we weren't allowed to arrive for our shifts through the ornate front doors.

We had to meet across the road and enter Harrods via an underground tunnel, kept out of sight in the underbelly of the store before walking up to the shop floor.

That image has always stuck with me.

The idea that there was something dark and secret hidden underneath the dazzling facade.

When the allegations about Al-Fayed came out, that the owner and chairman had used the luxury store as a hub to groom and assault young women, Harrods had to respond.