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
Name-droppy? Sure. But oh, what names! For those of us who delight in dishy details, there are just enough bitchy gems...to keep us satiated ... And for nightlife history nerds like myself, Pressman’s recollections are a breath of fresh air ... It’s his visceral passion for the fashion business that makes They All Came to Barneys more than the diary of a nepo baby playboy ... Pressman [has] deep knowledge and sincerity. He deftly weaves his family’s story with the larger history of the American fashion industry.
Even the most diligent scholars of the retail industry will get cross-eyed reading Mr. Pressman’s account of business dealings at Barneys. Even the most rabid fans of family sagas will wonder whose idea it was for the self-regarding author to include such a thorough account of his childhood, his adolescence, his years as a swinging man about town ... He is similarly dismissive of those who felt less than welcome at the family store ... They All Came to Barneys is at its best conjuring the glory of the Madison Avenue Barneys, from the custom mosaic crowning in the cosmetics department to the fish tanks among the jewelry displays.
