Nearly 25 years have passed since Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s tragic death, but her place in the fashion pantheon remains unchallenged. She’s continuously cited as the pinnacle of ’90s minimalism and the archetype of an American “It” girl. Her style—streamlined and crisp, occasionally avant-garde, always effortless—makes her a mainstay on mood boards. Fashion journalist Vanessa Friedman recently anointed Bessette Kennedy a “Ghost Influencer”—a quarter of a century later, and the former Calvin Klein publicist still resonates from beyond the veil.
But what is it about her style that makes it stick? How has her sartorial legacy withstood the ever-churning trend cycle and constant new crop of tastemakers?
