Conversation with Gene Pressman: They All Came to Barneys
- Date: November 12, 2026
- Time: 10:00–11:30 a.m.
- Locations: 1st Floor, Istituto Marangoni Miami, 3704 NE 2nd Avenue, Miami, FL 33137
About event
They All Came to Barneys: Gene Pressman in Conversation with Eva Hughes
For decades, Barneys New York was where fashion and culture met. On November 12, one of the people who built it comes to Istituto Marangoni Miami. Gene Pressman joins Executive Vice President Eva Hughes for a conversation about his book, They All Came to Barneys, followed by a book signing.
About Gene Pressman. Gene Pressman spent more than 25 years at Barneys New York, the store his grandfather, Barney Pressman, opened in Manhattan in 1923 as a discount menswear shop. As co-CEO, creative director and head of merchandising and marketing, he helped turn the family business into an international fashion destination whose story is entwined with the rise of names such as Giorgio Armani and Azzedine Alaïa.
The book. Written with Matthew Schneier and published by Viking in 2025, They All Came to Barneys is Pressman’s first-person account of the store’s journey from a single suit shop to a global force in fashion, and of the ambition, family tension and financial strain that ultimately brought it down.
The moderator. Eva Hughes is Executive Vice President and Chair of the Advisory Board at Istituto Marangoni Miami. She is the former CEO of Condé Nast Mexico and Latin America and the founding editor of Vogue Mexico and Latin America, and she brings more than 25 years in fashion, media and luxury to the conversation.
Why it matters. Few stories capture the business of fashion as completely as Barneys: buying, merchandising, store design, marketing, brand building and the risks of rapid growth. For students in fashion business, styling, design and luxury management, it is a rare look inside the decisions that make, and unmake, a retail icon.
Format. The 90-minute program includes the conversation, audience Q&A and a book signing. Copies of the books will be sold on site.
Join us. Thursday, November 12, 2026, 10:00–11:30 a.m., 1st Floor, Istituto Marangoni Miami, 3704 NE 2nd Avenue, Miami. Open to the public. Register on Eventbrite. 100