Abel Honor New York is not entering bridal. It’s taking it over. With the launch of its new division, Thorn & Veil, the brand doesn’t simply introduce a bridal collection — it unveils a completely reimagined couture system, two years in the making. At a time when most labels are reacting to trends, AHNY has been building its future behind the scenes, with founder Kate Wasserbach leading the charge through code, craft, and an unshakable creative ethos.

This is not a trend response. This is a takeover.

Bridal might be new to market, but it has been in motion for years. Wasserbach and her design team immersed themselves in tools used by architects, engineers, and digital artists — mastering Rhino 3D, CLO 3D, RStudio, and Harvard Business School’s Data Science for Industry Trends. They weren’t chasing speed. They were chasing precision.

Think Annie Leibovitz adopting Photoshop to enhance — not replace — the eye. Think James Cameron waiting for technology to catch up to Avatar. Think Ford’s assembly line — not to remove craftsmanship, but to elevate it.

Each gown begins as a hyper-realistic rendering, a visual blueprint that captures structure, silhouette, movement, and feeling. The result? Fewer errors, zero overproduction, no "maybe" samples. Just intentional, handcrafted, art-level pieces.

AHNY has never restocked a product, never run a sale, never compromised craftsmanship. From Italian-made footwear to hoodies embroidered with dedication tags like “To My TM, Thank You,” or “To my parents, for their love and support throughout the years,” every collection is a timestamp. Every piece tells a story.

The atelier behind Thorn & Veil has produced for fashion’s most elite. Gowns are built one at a time, touched by no more than three artisans, with museum-grade finishes and obsessive detail.

The Thorn symbolizes a bride’s circle of strength — the people who protect her, love her, and have held her up on her journey to this moment. It represents the backbone of her becoming: family, chosen family, resilience. The Veil is her softness — the sacred part of her identity that carries grace, vulnerability, and quiet power. It’s the ethereal element, the one that holds beauty not as decoration, but as meaning. Together, they form the emotional architecture of the collection. This is more than a name. It’s a language — one that expresses AHNY’s core duality: strength and softness, tradition and innovation, structure and soul.

THE DEBUT: COUTURE, SLOWED DOWN

Thorn & Veil’s launch was hosted at Lady Mendl’s Tea Salon in Manhattan. No runway. No chaos. Just intentional design and emotional clarity. Private, appointment-only viewings allowed no more than five guests per session. Each guest sat with Kate herself. 

A believer in human interaction as art, Kate channeled her admiration for Marina Abramović into every detail. There was no pitch. Only presence.

Only one gown from the line was shown — not as a placeholder, but as a symbol. It was intentionally chosen to demonstrate the house’s level of precision and finish, because this debut wasn’t about presenting a rack of content-ready gowns. It was about resisting the pressure to produce garments for the sake of imagery. Thorn & Veil wasn’t designed for the fast-scrolling, fast-fashion cycle. It was created for memory, not momentum — for brides and buyers who value connection over quantity. The presentation asked its guests to slow down and consider that luxury doesn’t need excess to be understood. Instead, guests were immersed in the Thorn & Veil signature fragrance. Scent, the closest link to memory, became the wearable takeaway.

"At a runway show, you don’t touch the garments either," Kate shared. "But here, you get something even more powerful: a moment."

The experience was multisensory. Guests sipped champagne and non-alcoholic offerings from Society De La Rassi, grazed on delicate crudites, and engaged with a tactile Fabric Knowledge Board. Pregnant during the debut, Kate was both visionary and deeply present, embodying the spirit of the brand. Each guest was also presented with a beautifully crafted lookbook, which they walked through alongside Kate. She personally explained the thought behind every silhouette, fabric, seam, and stitch — the poetry behind the construction. Buyers and stylists were given color-coded stickers to place next to the looks that resonated with them most, creating an interactive curation moment. Meanwhile, AHNY’s sales team sat close by, listening attentively and taking notes on every guest’s preferences, feedback, and energy. The color-coded stickers placed by buyers and stylists next to their favorite looks weren’t just decorative — they served as personalized breadcrumbs, allowing the sales team to follow up with thoughtful, tailored outreach post-show. It was immersive, personal, and wholly aligned with the brand’s ethos: fashion as conversation, not transaction.

This wasn’t content. It was connection.

THE FUTURE OF FASHION: CURATED AND CONNECTED

AHNY is building a new couture ecosystem where buyers collaborate, not just consume. With digital renderings and modular design options, retailers can co-curate deliveries that speak to their customer base. It’s no longer about offering racks of ready-made. It’s about refining what’s possible — together. 

This access, once exclusive to VIP clients, is now part of the AHNY experience. While virtual try-ons haven’t launched, the groundwork is there. What’s next is only a matter of timing.

Though Thorn & Veil is now center stage, Kate continues to oversee Abel Honor New York's ready-to-wear and footwear collections with equal devotion. Yet she is acutely aware of the industry's inertia — and waiting for it to catch up. 

"What drew me to bridal," she shares, "was the irony. Brides buy a gown to wear it once, and yet they invest in quality. You’d think something worn for just a few hours wouldn’t need to last — but they understand the importance of longevity, the emotional weight of an heirloom, the value of something crafted to endure. It’s such a beautiful contradiction. Meanwhile, the same consumer might buy a throwaway top for a Friday night out, knowing they’ll never wear it again. I know there are people out there who want more — who value meaning over momentum. I’m building for them."

She hopes that, one day, shoppers will treat their wardrobe the way they treat their wedding dress — with reverence, not impulse. "Trends will be the death of us," she laughs. "Someone once said skinny jeans are out. Tell Joan Jett that." 

Kate Wasserbach isn’t just a designer. She’s a system thinker, a romantic strategist, a builder of legacy. She reveres the greats, but she leads with her own light. “I’m not designing for the moment,” she says. “I’m designing for memory.”

"This isn’t about chasing relevance," says Kate. "It’s about building something timeless — something that still matters five decades from now, because it was made with care, not speed." 

In a time when fashion is fast and forgettable, Abel Honor New York is moving with intention. With Thorn & Veil, the future isn’t coming. It’s here.