They All Came to Barneys

During the greatest, most exciting years in the world’s greatest, most exciting city, Barneys New York was a place where fashion made culture and made history.
In They All Came to Barneys, Gene Pressman tells his story for the first time, capturing the unprecedented rise and unimaginable fall of his family’s multimillion-dollar fashion retail empire as only he can: from the inside
From its humble beginnings as a discount shop on Seventh Avenue, Barneys grew into an international phenomenon, setting the tone for fashion not only in New York, but across the country and worldwide. Told with razor-sharp wit and inimitable style, They All Came to Barneys takes us on an insider’s journey as rakish, would-be rocker Gene Pressman and the global fashion industry grew up and came into their own, side by side.
Through back-room handshake deals with designers, days at the haberdasheries on Savile Row and nights out at New York clubs and Paris bistros, three generations of Pressmans—grandfather Barney, son Fred, and grandson Gene—built Barney’s little shop into an empire and a byword for cool around the world. They All Came to Barneys is a front-row seat to the rise of some of the biggest names in fashion (Armani, Alaïa, Wintour, Meisel) and the store that came to dress an entire generation of celebrities, models, artists, and magnates. Set against the biggest movements in fashion and in culture, from the birth of ready-to-wear in the ’60s and disco delirium in the ’70s to the devastation of AIDS in the ’80s and the explosion of globalization in the ’90s, Gene Pressman had a backstage pass to history—until hubris, ambition, and risky business threatened to tear it all apart. . .

Gene Pressman was co-CEO, creative director, and head of merchandising and marketing for Barneys New York, and a veteran of the store for more than 25 years. Under his leadership, Barneys New York emerged as the defining force in retailing for upscale men’s and women’s ready-to-wear, accessories, and home furnishings. He is the author, with Noah Kerner, of Chasing Cool, a distillation of his marketing philosophy. A graduate of the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, he lives with his family in Palm Beach.