They All Came to Barneys

A Personal History of the World's Greatest Store

By: Gene Pressman

Narrated by: Gene Pressman, Jordan Renzo

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“Delicious. . . you should really, really give the book a read.” —Vogue

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. . .

BRILLIANT insights in Fashion Innovation!!

I absolutely loved everything about this book! I thought the performance by Gene Pressman was wonderful. I liked hearing his authentic voice tell each story. From the early beginnings with his grandfather to the destruction of Barneys, New York, when working with private equity, something that all big names began to face in the 90s and 2000s. What I love the most was the stories of how they helped up-and-coming design designers because that’s what I remember Barneys New York to be. I yearned to shop there as a college student. Barney’s was the epitome of cool, elegance and high fashion. It was like an art gallery and a fashion museum. The inside stories and details of what went down behind the scenes was just amazing. Thank you for sharing it with all of us. I am a person who has saved my black Barneys shopping bags during the closeout sale. I bought the last few artistic Christmas ornaments, nylon branded Barneys NY backpacks, and branded leather wallets. This book was so timely as Giorgio Armani passed away today. It’s an end of an era.

Impressive and insightful

I learned quite a bit about the growth of the company and NYC culture.

Overall a Great Story

Overall I enjoyed the book very much. I love NYC lore and the stories of past players who once shaped the City's culture. This read certainly fits this bill. The reader could have brushed up on the pronunciation of certain words that I would assume would be a reader's forte. That being said if you love New York you will appreciate this book. A little Gene Pressman ego boosting at times, but not too bad.

We Shopped At Barney’s - Unequaled

We finally got the story from a family member. Barney and Fred were the greatest.

I miss it too.

The narrator should have been coached on pronunciations….examples- David Byrne is not Buy-urn. Mill-Anne for Milan?