These Fall Runway Trends Look Straight Out of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s Closet
These Fall Runway Trends Look Straight Out of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s Closet
Faran KrentcilFri, March 13, 2026 at 9:20 PM UTC
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Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s Style Hits the RunwayGetty Images
If you went to a fashion show this season, you probably saw a certain archetype on the runway. She was tall and willowy, with wayward strands of yellow hair flying around her face. She wore pieces from a ’90s cool-girl uniform—a giant white shirt, a tan pencil skirt, some clompy boots, a strapless dress—and stared down the cameras with a determined but private expression.
The evident muse for this season was Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, who has long been a style influence for Ivy League art history majors and vintage slip dress hunters. But thanks to Love Story’s TV domination, and the magnetism of its young star Sarah Pidgeon, CBK’s power is being felt—and dressed—anew.
Below, an index of Bessette Kennedy’s impact on the fall/winter 2026 catwalks, including styling tips that you can pull off now, regardless of your access to Issey Miyake suits.
The Pencil Skirt
Runway imagery, left to right: MM6 Maison Margiela, Jil Sander, Gucci, Marc JacobsGetty Images
A sleeper hit of the recent runways: Simple beige pencil skirts like Bessette Kennedy’s Prada version from 1996. They were especially popular in Milan; even Demna pulled the trend into Gucci’s lineup, putting it on a current “quiet luxury” icon, Karlie Kloss. In New York, Marc Jacobs did a CBK remix by pairing the skirt with a vivid aqua sweater. (He kept the messy hair and big boots, though.)
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The Strapless Gown
Left to right: Jil Sander, Hodakova, Richard Quinn, Michael Kors CollectionGetty Images
CBK wore hers to a Municipal Art Society benefit in 1998, along with matching black opera gloves. Richard Quinn mirrored the look in London but turned the gloves white, while Michael Kors added a deep slit to his version, which debuted at the Metropolitan Opera—not far from where Bessette-Kennedy sported the original look.
The Leopard Coat
Left to right: Marni, Willy Chavarria, Ermanno Scervino, MadewellGetty Images
Nothing elevates a “normie” outfit of jeans and a sweater faster than a fabulous coat. For Bessette Kennedy, that meant a vintage leopard-print faux fur jacket that skimmed the body and hit just above the knee. The original coat sold at Sotheby’s in December for $33,600… which kind of makes the runway versions from Marni and Willy Chavarria bargains? (Girl math.)
The Big White Shirt
Left to right: Fendi, Dries Van Noten, Michael Kors Collection, Dolce & GabbanaGetty Images
Bessette Kennedy’s big white shirt was from Yohji Yamamoto’s menswear line. Today, designers like TWP and Gap make perfectly oversized versions for women. On the runways at Dolce & Gabbana and Fendi, they were paired with slinky black skirts, à la CBK. Pro tip: Put a simple black slip under the lace ones to keep the texture but shield the skin.
The Messy Ponytail
Left to right: Prada, Sportmax, DiorGetty Images
Bessette Kennedy’s blonde strands were so singular that Love Story’s creative department had to re-dye Pidgeon’s hair after a public outcry about the initial, way-too-yellow results. But even if you’re happier as a brunette, you can still copy CBK’s easy ponytails. Prada, Jil Sander, The Row, and Hermès all paid homage, with Dior’s loose and low ponies by Guido Palau being an especially close match.
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
