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It may be titled 'Love Story,' but 's biopic of two long gone icons known merely by their acronyms – JFK JR and CBK – is as much a 'fashion story.'
Front and center in this sartorial tale is, of course, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, whose pared-down style epitomized the meticulous minimalism that defined in the 1990s.
The show has resulted in an explosion of interest in that sleekly chic aesthetic – with social media identifying in painstaking detail each bag, blouse, sweater, headband, dress and shoe beloved by the fallen fashion star. Yet few obsessing over 'Love Story' seem to recognize the other powerful narrative at work in Murphy's miniseries – that of Bessette's style godfather, designer Calvin Klein.
Now 82, increasingly frail and often found trailing behind his 36-year-old model boyfriend Kevin Baker, the once unquestioned emperor of New York chic is, like the eponymous brand (Klein sold his company in 2022), a faded presence.
'Love Story' reminds us that Klein was once at the center of New York society and is now noticeably absent.
In Murphy's fictionalized retelling, Klein – despite his celebrity – is as besotted with Bessette as she is with the Kennedy heir. But the Klein-Bessette constellation was not a romantic one.
In Murphy's fictionalized retelling, Klein – played by actor Alessandro Nivola – is as besotted with Bessette as she is with the Kennedy heir
'Love Story' reminds us that Klein was once at the center of New York society and is now noticeably absent. (Pictured: Kelly and Calvin Klein in 1994)
Carolyn Bessette (right) and Kelly Klein (far right) in 1994
In 'Love Story,' Kelly Klein (here portrayed by actress Leila George) helps engineer the introduction of CBK and JFK Jr
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Their own 'meet cute' moment occurs over a stylistic disagreement, when Carolyn audaciously questions a gown that Klein had chosen for Annette Benning to wear to the Hollywood premiere of the 1991 flick, Bugsy.
Rejecting a black floor-length sheath dress and then a slinky satin slip number – both clearly meant for a star slimmer than Benning – Carolyn steers the actress towards a tailored men's-styled suit, which she assures will be a 'fun nod to the film noir gangster genre' celebrated in the film.
The moment proves decisive – not just for Benning who wore the outfit to much acclaim – but for Carolyn, whose adept reading of the celeb-meter won her Klein's affection, formal seat in Klein's office inner circle and eventually an invite to a gala where Klein introduces Bessette to JFK Jr.
Murphy has done some creative acrobatics here – it is not clear that Bessette actually styled Benning for the premiere and she and Kennedy did not meet in a glitzy fashion fundraiser but instead when he came into the Calvin Klein showroom to buy a suit. But the director's intentions are still clear. Bessette becomes for Klein a muse for all time, and his pursuit of her is as vigorous as that of her future husband.
For the majority of 'Love Story's' first five episodes, the designer and Bessette exist in creative lockstep. She dazzles Klein with her ingenious marketing strategies (including her endorsement of little-known British model Kate Moss) and Klein responds with adoring reverence for his employee's ability to dress with taste, while lacking a trust fund.
Christy Turlington, Kelly Klein, Calvin Klein and Kate Moss in February 2025
Fashion designer Narciso Rodriguez serves as both a BFF and fashion inspiration to CBK in 'Love Story'
It was Kelly – and not Carolyn – who came to personify the idealized version of the Calvin Klein woman.
