Assouline’s ‘Very Bergdorf’ celebrates one of New York’s most storied institutions.
Bergdorf Goodman has always understood that fashion is most powerful when it feels like a fantasy coming true. On Fifth Avenue, the magic begins before the doors open: in the windows, in the promise of discovery, and in the quiet conviction that transformation is possible. Spanning more than eighty defining moments—from historic designer debuts to iconic Fashion’s Night Out events and milestone anniversaries—Very Bergdorf is a richly illustrated new volume by Assouline with text by Wendy Goodman, celebrating one of New York’s most storied institutions and the singular glamour it has projected for 125 years. From its landmark home between Fifty-Seventh and Fifty-Eighth Streets to its legendary windows, Bergdorf Goodman has never been merely a store. It is a luxury destination, a dreamscape, and a stage for transformation. Goodman recalls her first childhood visit with her mother, capturing Bergdorf’s as “its own world,” a place where the spell begins on the sidewalk and deepens the moment one steps inside. That impressionistic sense of wonder animates the book, which traces the creative forces behind the store’s enduring mythology: visionary designers, passionate clients, expert salespeople, photographers, publicists, and the teams responsible for its celebrated interiors and fantastical holiday windows. The book also features exclusive quotes from some of fashion’s most celebrated designers, offering rare, firsthand perspectives on what Bergdorf Goodman has meant to their careers and to the industry at large.
According to the official press release, pre-orders are open now and the book expects to ship across the US on October 6, 2026.
A Bergdorf Goodman advertisement from the early 1990s. Image courtesy of Bergdorf Goodman.
Text by Wendy Goodman. 10 x 13 in – 25 x 33 cm | 272 pages | hardcover. ISBN: 9781649807311 | $120 – €120 – £100. SEPTEMBER 2026
About the author
Wendy Goodman is the design editor of New York magazine and Curbed. She previously served as New York’s interior design editor and fashion editor, and was style director at Harper’s Bazaar under Liz Tilberis, where she produced and wrote stories on style, interiors, and architecture. She has also covered fashion and design for House & Garden and The New York Times Magazine. Goodman is the author of May I Come In?: Discovering the World in Other People’s Houses (Abrams, 2018) and The World of Gloria Vanderbilt (Abrams, 2010), and co-author, with Hutton Wilkinson, of Tony Duquette (Abrams, 2007). Goodman lives in Greenwich Village and was born and raised in New York City.
