Phyllis Pressman, the matriarch of the family who founded Barneys New York, transformed the discount menswear store into a luxury store and is the founder of Chelsea Passage, the store's homewares bazaar, a pivotal point in its evolution from suit merchant to elite lifestyle. Giant Monster — Died Tuesday in Palm Beach, Florida. She died at the age of 95.
Her death at a hospice facility was announced by her son, Gene Pressman.
Barneys has always been a family business. It was named after Barney Pressman, who in 1923, at the urging of his wife, purchased the lease of a small store at 7th Avenue and 17th Street in Manhattan for $500, using his wife's ring as collateral. There he built an empire selling name-brand suits at affordable prices. His son Fred took over the reins in the 1950s, transforming it into an upscale menswear retailer featuring European designers.
Phyllis Pressman, who married Fred, began working at the store so she could spend more time with Fred. Her first intervention was to style her windows, which she thought were boring, by adding whimsical objects such as mannequins and paper dogs. She then traveled to the Marché aux Puces in Paris and Portobello Road in London and began decorating the interiors of her stores with her found objects and textiles, as well as antiques, jewelry, and household items.
In the late 1970s, Fred Pressman covered the alley adjacent to his property on the 17th Street side with a skylight and turned it over to his wife to fill with household items. They named it Chelsea Passage.
Ms. Pressman's eyes were impeccable and her tastes were Catholic. She owned Surrealist ornaments by Italian designer Piero Fornasetti and works by British Art Deco ceramicist Clarice Cliff. She also had a rose-infused teapot by Mary Rose Young, as well as hand-painted pillows, twig placemats, and antique trinkets. She sold flatware, stemware, linens, etc., and mounted her wares on antique furniture, including a marble-topped butcher's table, rattan settees, and an art deco bar. At the request of her customers, she started selling them too. She sold Li-Lac chocolates from a display case designed by a young Peter Marino.
As Chelsea Passage grew, so did Barneys. Fred Pressman's sons, Gene and Robert, joined Mr. Pressman in the mid-1980s. He transformed the place just as his father did, overseeing the creation of a women's store with interiors designed by Marino, Andrée Putman, Jean-Paul Beaujard and others.
Chelsea Passage fills the entire first floor like a charming market.
Mr. Pressman searched for unique handcrafts and worked with artisans to create pieces to his specifications, adjusting the height and shape of the blade or glass. She had her costume jewelry designers create the napkin rings. She first sold the work of Jonathan Adler, a passionate designer who taught pottery at night, and her orders made him a full-time production potter. “Without her, I wouldn’t exist.” Mr. Adler said on the phone.
She was adamant about exclusive products. If an artisan starts selling elsewhere, we will remove them from Chelsea Passage.
She was fastidious, demanding, a perfectionist and a perfectionist. Lisa Barr was hired as a clerk and became executive vice president of Chelsea Passage. When Mr. Pressman decided to add luxury offerings like imported tea to Chelsea Passage, he sent Mr. Barr to tea school at the Mariage Frères in Paris, a centuries-old tea importer.
“I want people to feel like they’re shopping in someone’s home.” Simon Doonan recalled what Gene Pressman told him when he brought him on as the store's display manager in the mid-1980s. He went on to become the longtime creative director and creator of playful window displays.
“Chelsea Passage was an amazing mix of cool, modern furniture mixed with Art Deco ceramics, Italian Futurism and flea market finds,” Mr. Doonan said. “And it was different from other department stores at the time, where the showrooms were all chrome and easy-to-clean formica. It was subtle and fantastic.”
Wendy Goodman, design editor at New York Magazine, said in an email that Mr. Pressman “really understood the art of curating luxury items you want to have in your home.” She says, “Things you never knew you wanted but have longed for.” Chelsea Passage always made me want to write a story called ‘Things I’ll Never Have’.”
Phyllis Ruth Epstein was born in Queens on January 17, 1929. Her father, Mortimer Epstein, worked as a wholesaler in the textile industry. Her mother, Dorothy (Schapiro) Epstein, was a child actress.
Phyllis grew up in New York until her parents divorced when she was 10 years old. Her mother then remarried and moved with her family to Lawrence, New York, Long Island. Phyllis attended Parsons College, a private liberal arts college in Iowa that has since closed, and the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut.
When she was 19, she started dating Fred Pressman. They married a year later, settled on Fifth Avenue, and then moved to Harrison, New York, in Westchester County.
In the early 1990s, Pressmans teamed up with Japanese retail giant Isetan Company to open Barneys stores across the country and, famously, underwent another expansion, building an ornate limestone flagship building on Madison Avenue between 60th and 61st Streets. It has begun. But by early 1996, the empire began to unravel and Barneys filed for bankruptcy. Fred Pressman died that summer.
Ms. Pressman and her sons and daughters, Elizabeth Neubardt and Nancy Dressler, all worked in the family business their entire lives and continued to do so until 1998. But the relationship between the siblings was strained. Robert Pressman, who oversaw the company's finances, was successfully sued by his sisters for mishandling his family's trust.
In addition to his children, Mr. Pressman is survived by 11 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. In 2001, she married Joseph Gurwin, who gave away much of his fortune while manufacturing specialty fabrics such as those used in bulletproof vests. Mr. Gerwin died in 2009.
Barneys changed hands several times over the next few decades, slowly losing its character with each iteration. In 2019, it once again went bankrupt and closed for good.
Barney Pressman had a motto: “Don’t settle, choose.” During her long marriage to Fred, Ms. Pressman developed a tradition of giving him engraved gifts, including cufflinks, charms, and key chains, emblazoned with the phrase, “I'm so glad I chose and was not satisfied.”