Barneys New York’s Gene Pressman, Designers Jeffrey Banks and Dennis Basso Ready for 92NY Talks

Fall seems a long way off, given the steamy temperatures in the Northeast. But Fern Mallis has already cued up three key speakers for her “Fashion Icons” fall lineup at 92NY.

First up, after Labor Day, will be Gene Pressman, who will sit down on Sept. 5 for a Q&A at the Upper East Side institution. The former chief executive officer of Barneys New York will have just released his Rizzoli-published book “They All Came to Barneys: A Personal History of the World’s Greatest Store” with a kickoff event with the store’s former window dresser Simon Doonan.

Aside from having an insider’s view as a Barneys executive, Pressman also has family ties to what was once a New York destination for the style-conscious and power players alike. His grandparents Barney and Barbara Pressman started the company in 1923. In the decades that followed, what was once a discount men’s suit store was transformed into a directional retailer for designer styles and effortlessly cool items. Barneys’ rise occurred along with the ascents of other fashion forces like Giorgio Armani, Azzedine Alaïa, Anna Wintour and Steven Meisel.

In the “Fashion Icons” talk, Pressman is expected to shed some light on how he, his father Fred, and grandfather shaped Barneys and reeled in a generation of celebrities, artists and magnates. The Viking Books/Penguin Random House page-turner is being turned into a series by Shiny Penny Productions and Five All in the Fifth Entertainment with Beth Schacter on board as its writer and Joe Wright serving as its director, as reported by Deadline earlier this week.

Mallis needs no introduction to the designer Jeffrey Banks, who will be fielding her questions on Sept. 18. By her own account, they are best friends. She said the two-time Coty award-winner was always “very clear” with her that he would do a sit-down interview when he wrote his memoir. That has happened and his book “Storyteller: Tales from a Fashion Insider” will be out in early September.

Banks was only a teenage employee at the men’s clothing store Britches of Georgetown when he was asked by his boss to pick up Ralph Lauren, who was doing a charity fashion show in D.C., at the airport. Banks would go on to work for the American designer. Along with his career path, Banks will be talking about more recent endeavors like having his designs featured in “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. “He has a memory like nobody I have ever known in my life. He remembers every single little detail about every encounter, everything he’s done and everyone he’s ever met and worked with,” Mallis said.

Another New York-based designer with seemingly automatic recall, Dennis Basso, will be in the hot seat at 92NY on Oct. 8. His luxe coats were worn by Meryl Streep in her “Miranda Priestly” role in “The Devil Wears Prada.” Other top-notch style setters like Michelle Obama, Nicole Kidman and Rihanna have also worn his designs, as well as Gabrielle Union, who wore a Basso wedding gown. Basso also once had a life-threatening brush with fame. While on the White House grounds during a tour in 1994, the designer was mistaken for the then-President Bill Clinton by a failed assassin Francisco Martin Duran, who fired 29 rounds. Duran was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison.

Never one to be slowed down by pretty much anything, Basso has been running his namesake company for more than 40 yaers, Basso also has been a force on QVC for more than 31 years. “There will be a lot of fun storytelling and a lot of fashion history,” Mallis said.