Fashion, costume, and interior designer Aude Bronson-Howard learned to speak the universal language of design at a young age. The daughter of a French mother and an American father, she was raised in both New York City and Paris, where she became steeped in their contrasts. “The sophistication of Paris combined with the street grit of New York City was like winning the lottery,” she says. “It afforded me a free pass to all things great about both cultures.”
At 19, she had barely graduated from the venerable French fashion institute Studio Bercot when she was hired by the Yves Saint Laurent company to create men’s clothing for the American market. Her work frequently took her between New York City, Paris, Tokyo, and Hong Kong, and for over a decade she was the in-house stylist for the brand's US photo editorials.
With her diverse knowledge of fabrics and styles, she quickly became known for her sartorial vision, which enhanced the story-building of directors such as Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma, Harold Ramis, and Nancy Meyers and for films including Scent of a Woman, Carlito’s Way, Donnie Brasco, and Analyze This and Analyze That, just to name a few.
Along the way, she developed a close friendship with Robert DeNiro, whom she has dressed and styled for over 20 years. Her work in film then opened the door to costume design and creative styling for commercials, where she worked with iconic brands like Chanel, Nike, Allstate, Apple, BMW, and FedEx.
Between projects, Bronson-Howard found her passion for products and interior design, expanding her career in yet another fluid move. After years of designing home accessories for her own Manhattan store and working with her clients on private residences from New York City to Europe, this spring, Bronson-Howard brought her interior design business, ABH Home Design, upstate.
The studio specializes in everything from advising and collaborating on construction and renovation, selecting and installing custom furnishings, and art, photography, and staging for a diverse range of client tastes and home environments. ABH Home Design is currently in the final stages of a complete redesign of a house in Bearsville and is providing design advisory on a new construction home in Woodstock.
Whether building a 1920s flapper dress for a film or collecting reclaimed wood for the creation of a dining bench in a rural cottage, for Bronson-Howard, the sourcing, manufacturing, and processes that drive her work across design disciplines are ultimately the same.
