Thomas O’Brien founded Aero Studios in 1992 as an interior design firm combined with a vintage furniture gallery and home furnishings store. In name and practice, Aero has always represented this twofold enterprise: studio and store together, distinctively housed together under one roof. It is both the place and the style that connect the elements of his design world in a continuous thread, from p
roducts to shop to interiors. Since his arrival on the New York design stage, O’Brien has embraced the full arc of traditional to modern style as a new way to define American modern living. His work passes through a modernist filter but is bred of older virtues: vintage elegance, classic comfort, and credible, knowledgeable collecting. As his company alter-ego, Aero is the constant laboratory for this philosophy. Modeled after the industrial workshops and artist ateliers that O’Brien admires, the Aero design studio translates historical inspirations into modern products and spaces: O’Brien’s namesake brand of home furnishings; his popular Vintage Modern collection for Target; commercial and residential architecture and design. The Aero store acts as the retail function of the studio, sharing the designer’s latest ideas with the public in an emporium of special goods, six days a week, year-round. For nearly twenty years, Aero has been a fixture in New York’s downtown Soho neighborhood. Today it remains an emblem of Soho’s modern arts and gallery legacy, as one of the original designer stores in the area, and a unique style outpost for shoppers from around the city and the world. From its first address on Spring Street in central Soho, Aero is now located just to the south, in the resurgent Crosby-Broome design district. Joined with Aero Studios in the headquarters of the Thomas O’Brien Company, the Aero store occupies a much-expanded street-front presence, and exhibits the most complete offering anywhere of O’Brien’s brand products: furniture, lighting, carpets, and fabrics to order, along with tableware, accessories, and bedding. Special gift registry and home decor services through the store also extend O’Brien’s design imprimatur to shoppers, for more personalized access to the full world of Aero style. Aero Studios, Aero Ltd., and the Thomas O’Brien Company are located at 419 Broome Street (between Crosby and Lafayette streets). Studio visits are scheduled by appointment.
