English
French
German
Time & Life Footage/Getty Photographs
Yohji-san provides interviews solely in individual throughout trend week, however a spokesperson confirmed that Bessette-Kennedy had a “very robust relationship with the home from 1996 till 1999.” The 2 by no means met—though, the spokesperson famous, the designer despatched a memorial message to WWD when Bessette-Kennedy handed away. (Yamamoto not has a replica since he faxed the one one to the paper.)
As her Yohji Yamamoto seems present, what makes Bessette-Kennedy’s model so memorable isn’t merely her minimalist style, however her grasp of the very concept: she actually liked avant-garde trend. Her celeb friends, like Princess Diana, preferred the flash of Versace and the snobbier minimalism of Armani. And different trend icons of American politics, like her mother-in-law, Jackie Kennedy, or Nancy Reagan, most popular French couturiers and their American counterparts, who stood for a type of whole-milk glamour—Oscar de La Renta, James Galanos, Invoice Blass, Ralph Lauren. Bessette-Kennedy appeared to really feel higher in one thing weirder.
So what drew Bessette-Kennedy to Yohji-san’s designs? In a 2016 story on the “one-woman trend cult,” City & Nation recommended that her wardrobe mirrored the tumult and insecurity that allegedly observe the Kennedys’ wedding ceremony: “Previous to their marriage, Carolyn was usually photographed within the slinkiest of outfits…. Afterwards the necklines went up, up, up. When she did seem at official occasions in public, it was virtually solely in uncompromising designs of Japanese avant-garde Yohji Yamamoto, her well-known luscious hair severely pulled again, virtually school-marmish.”
In different phrases: the fittingly unhappy wardrobe for America’s saddest fairytale. However that timeline doesn’t fairly line up—neither is it in keeping with Yohji-san’s work. First, Bessette-Kennedy’s considerations had been extra sensible, based on Terenzio: “When John began George, Carolyn had to ensure to not put on one designer over one other as a result of they promote within the journal. So she wore a ton of Yohji as a result of they didn’t promote in any respect.”
And there’s one thing past that business-savvy, too—the mental intention that Yohji-san stands for. As Yohji-san stated in a 2011 interview, “My place to begin was about wanting to guard a human’s physique.” He continued, “I wished to guard the garments themselves from trend, and on the similar time shield the lady’s physique from one thing—possibly from males’s eyes or a chilly wind.” Bessette-Kennedy couldn’t conceal from the general public, however she might discover clothes that made her really feel in management.
