They All Came to Barneys: A Personal History of the World's Greatest Store

by Gene Pressman

From the streets of New York to the runways of Paris, fashion powerbroker Gene Pressman’s Why Didn’t I Think of That? captures the rise and fall, the secrets and scandals, of his family’s multimillion fashion retail empire

This is the story of Barneys—but not just of the store on 17th Street. It’s also the story of the glitz and grit of New York, and the fashion diaspora from Europe to America to Asia, and the family that was in the middle of it all. Told with the inimitable Gene Pressman’s razor-sharp wit and iconic style, Why Didn’t I Think of That? takes us on an insider’s journey through the history of his family business as he grows into his own as a scion of retail. He gives us the secrets to Barneys’ success—and its failure—in a riotous, scandal-filled adventure perfect for the dreamers and entrepeneurs in all of us.

When the eldest Pressman, Barney, opened his eponymous store of suits in 1923, he couldn’t have imagined that his son and grandsons would transform it into a global empire that revolutionized fashion retail into what we know it as today. Through back-room handshake deals with designers, nights out at New York clubs, rock ’n’ roll concerts, and world tours of fashion’s most exclusive catwalks, the Pressmans came to dress an entire generation of celebrities, models, CEOs, sultans, and people around the world. Take a front-row seat to the rise of some of the biggest names in fashion—Armani, Alaïa, Wintour, Meisel—by the store that made it all happen, even as family disagreements, cost overruns, and scandals began to tear it apart from the inside…

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, History, Fashion, Business

400 pages, Hardcover

Published September 2, 2025

Reviews

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Gwyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Giorgio Armani died today - September 4, 2025. The day I finished this illuminating book on the history of Barneys of New York. We have Barneys to thank for introducing America to Armanj and many other innovative designers.

As a former New Yorker who occasionally shopped the Madison store and knows what Barneys meant to New York, I was most enlightened with learning Barney’s history. What a ride the family had starting Barney’s as a men’s discount suit store and evolving to the premium luxury experience.

Would have liked more insight into the financial mismanagement but I’m certain there are case studies. Do wish there were pictures of the events and parties held at the store.

Barneys was unique and there will never be another given how retail has changed with e-commerce.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barneys started out as a discount store before morphing into a men’s suit store and then a mecca for fashion. Its story is dishy and the arrogant and unapologetic third-generation owner, Gene Pressman, had a lot of fun before everything imploded. He and his brother Bob ran the company into the ground before eventually losing it. For another point of view on the fall of Barney’s check out Joshua Levine’s book The Rise and Fall of the House of Barneys: A Family Tale of Chutzpah, Glory, and Greed.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

[J R · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting and scandal-filled memoir that's relatively frank about the faults as well as the positives, although it does still look at things with rose-tinted eyes. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

[Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfect book to listen to while unpacking Christmas decor at my retail job lol rip Barney’s I loved you so much despite not being able to afford you

[William Wheeler · Rating 2 out of 5]

not a good writer and egotistical

Made what could have been a good marketing story boring. Constantly patting himself on the back. Came off as a shallow person.