FX’s Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette is a limited series that explores the undeniable chemistry, whirlwind courtship and high-profile marriage of one of the most iconic couples of the 20th century, John F. Kennedy Jr. (Paul Anthony Kelly) and Carolyn Bessette (Sarah Pidgeon). It is the first installment in Ryan Murphy’s Love Story anthology and is inspired by Elizabeth Beller’s book Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. Image credit: FX Networks
I grew up stealing my mother’s copies of Vogue magazine and the best part was when she would say, “OK, I’m done with this issue, you can cut it up now.”
My eager hands would start tearing pages and snipping up imagery of Cindy, Linda, Liv, Christy, Shalom, Gwyneth and, of course, Carolyn. Plastering them across scrap books and mood boards.
But Carolyn, there was always something about her.
Unlike the supermodels and actresses, she exuded an aura that made her seem both within and completely out of reach. Impeccable but human.
Three decades later, she has Instagram in a forever chokehold.
With Ryan Murphy’s new Love Story series reigniting a cultural obsession, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, or CBK, continues to fuel minimal aesthetics and ‘quiet luxury’ fashion girlies around the world.
Frozen in time
Carving out her career at Calvin Klein, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy was at the epicentre of ‘90s minimalist luxury. She embodied Calvin Klein’s reductive and restrained glamour, putting her own effortless twist into action as she rose to fame and became a paparazzi favorite.
Through tragedy, her style and distinctiveness became frozen in time and photographic archives. Carolyn Bessette Kennedy exists in a state of permanent timelessness because her style never faced the passing of time.
The other icons gracing my pre-teen mood boards morphed.
From Calvin Klein camel skirts to Y2K belts and frilly tops over bootcut jeans, to Noughties' sleazy boho and today’s blend of minimalism and romanticism. They evolved with the times, some more gracefully than others.
Livia Stefanini
Fashion, style and timelessness in luxury
The luxury industry conflates these three ideas constantly.
Fashion is hunger. It is the business of novelty, creativity and new creation, but also with a sense of urgency and impulse. Trends that must be acquired before they expire. It is exciting, inspiring and increasingly accessible.
Style is an edit. A point of view. It’s the how rather than the what. It’s what happens when one knows what is meant for them and taps into fashion to amplify their vision, without drastic deviations according to the whims of the runway.
Timelessness is architecture. It’s a foundational structure that is built for longevity. It can be decorated differently but with underlying control. Timelessness is an appreciation for craft and restraint, with the confidence to resist too much novelty.
Carolyn Bessette Kennedy applied her style to fashion with a foundation of timelessness which creates legacy.
What luxury can learn from CBK in a time of slowdowns
The underlying tragedy of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy makes her an uncomfortable case study.
Indeed, her image is eternal partly because her life was not. She never had to compromise her aesthetic for age, Y2K, smartphones or the relentless pressure of a world in motion. But her everlasting appeal, especially now, in a moment of luxury contraction, is a testament to what consumers want when certainty is dwindling.
The data is clear.
While LVMH’s Fashion & Leather Goods division declined 8 percent in the first half of 2025, Hermès posted 13 percent full-year revenue growth, reaching €15.2 billion.
The Row, built quietly over two decades with no social media and no hype, recently hit a $1 billion valuation. The brands that survive downturns are the builders, the ones who designed foundational structures first and treated novelty as an accent.
LUXURY HOUSES THAT want to create legacy and outlast cycles need to understand the difference between decorating a building and actually building one, becoming an architect vs. an interior designer.
Livia Stefanini is a London-based strategy and storytelling consultant focused on the luxury, fashion, skincare, automotive and hospitality sectors. Reach her at [email protected].