Why Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s style still matters today
As the wife of John F Kennedy Jr, her minimalist style was adored the world over, and now a new book celebrates the 1990s icon
Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s life in the public eye was brief but dazzling. As soon as she started dating John F Kennedy Jr in 1994 she went from being a Calvin Klein publicist working quietly behind the scenes to someone whose outfit choices created a publicity frenzy. In the five short years before her death in a light-aircraft crash in 1999, aged just 33, she became a bona fide style icon, inspiring terms such as “throwaway chic” long before “quiet luxury” entered the lexicon.
Despite being the subject of countless brand mood boards, wedding planning Pinterest pages and reverential social media accounts (the hash-tag #carolynbessettekennedy has had more than 40 million views on TikTok), though, there has yet to be an authoritative document of her style.