Nostalgia
Kelly Klein Recalls the Last Time She Saw Carolyn Bessette Ahead of the 27th Anniversary of Her Death
Kelly Klein is honoring the memory of her late friend Carolyn Bessette.
Kelly and Carolyn became close while Carolyn worked at Calvin Klein. She remained with the fashion house until 1996, leaving ahead of her marriage to John F. Kennedy Jr.. Their friendship was later portrayed in FX‘s Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette, with Leila George portraying Kelly and Sarah Pidgeon portraying Carolyn.
Kelly, who was married to designer Calvin Klein from 1986 to 2006, shared two photos of Carolyn to Instagram on Wednesday, July 15, just ahead of the 27th anniversary of her death. One shot, taken during a trip to Paris, shows Carolyn in a white button-down with a sweater tied around her waist. The second captures her during a fitting for Calvin Klein, wearing a pastel yellow dress trimmed in white lace.
“I didn’t know today would have been the last day I saw you! If you only knew what was going on down here!” Kelly, 69, wrote in her caption. “You have influenced so many of our young generation in only the most positive ways! Simple elegant minimal style! Just you and your natural being. Rest in peace Carolyn ! You are greatly missed!”
Carolyn died at 33 alongside JFK Jr., 38, and her sister, Lauren, when the plane John was piloting crashed en route to Rory Kennedy‘s wedding on July 16, 1999.
The tribute prompted an outpouring of memories in the comments. One commenter wrote that they had “lots more polaroids of you and Carolyn trying on your flea market finds for us designers,” and promised to track them down and send them to Kelly.
Another recalled working alongside the women on a photo shoot, writing it was “unforgettable working with you Kelly, Carolyn, Didier & Laura on our Hollywood Photographs together.”
A third commenter said meeting Carolyn once left a lasting impression, adding, “She was everything… I still copy everything about her.”
