Carolyn Bessette Kennedy's minimalist style still influences fashion, and designer Narciso Rodriguez, who knew her best, understands why.
The two became close friends while working together at Calvin Klein in the 1990s, shopping and spending off-hours together around New York City. Rodriguez designed the pearl silk crepe slipdress she wore to marry John F. Kennedy Jr. in 1996, and she became his muse.
Bessette Kennedy, her husband and her sister Lauren Bessette died in a private plane crash off Martha's Vineyard in 1999. Nearly three decades later, interest in her look has not faded, eight months after Ryan Murphy's series about the marriage debuted. Slip skirts remain common on Manhattan streets, worn by celebrities including Zoë Kravitz and Meghan Markle, while Jenna Ortega appears in an embellished slipdress on Vogue's November cover.
"To me, a slip never goes away," Rodriguez said. "It's part of the uniform. It's always in the closet." He remembered her poise, beauty and magnetism. "When she entered a room, everyone turned, not just because of her beauty or her style."
She favored minimalist pieces from Yohji Yamamoto, Prada, Helmut Lang and Jil Sander, often in neutrals, sometimes with a C.O. Bigelow tortoise headband or penny loafers. Rodriguez said images of her keep appearing on designers' mood boards. He speculated she would have been annoyed by the press attention and found it silly, adding, "She wasn't preoccupied with getting attention with what she wore."
Originally reported by WWD