Who

Williams is one of the city's most prominent old-guard interior decorators.

Backstory

Virginia native Williams entered the interiors field in 1966, taking a job as an assistant with Parish-Hadley, the firm founded by legendary designers Sister Parish and Albert Hadley. Williams spent 22 years at the firm—and became a partner—before leaving in 1988 and launching Bunny Williams Inc. These days she unleashes her old-fashioned decorating aesthetic upon the homes of similarly-aged society types, CEOs, and financiers. Her clients include former Lazard vice chair Damon Mezzacappa and his wife Liz, billionaire financier Wilbur Ross and his wife Hilary Geary Ross, and fashion tycoons like Bill Blass and Oscar and Annette de la Renta. Also known for her garden designs, Williams operates the fancy East 75th Street garden store Treillage, where she purveys antique birdbaths, stone ball finials, and other expensive outdoor adornments. She authored the 1998 book, On Garden Style, and a 2005 design tome, An Affair with a House.

AKA

Bunny is a nickname, of course. Her birth name is the decidedly less cute-sounding (and rather masculine) Bruce.

Pet causes

Williams sits on the board of the Humane Society of New York. She and Kitty Hawks are also the founders of Tails in Need and the Great American Mutt Show, two groups that find owners for homeless dogs.

Personal

Williams' husband is antiques dealer John Rosselli. The couple and their five mutts live in a prewar on the Upper East Side, and spend weekends at their country house in northwestern Connecticut.