Hailey Bieber Recreates Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy's Iconic Rehearsal Dinner Dress
The model donned a vintage gown previously worn by the former Calvin Klein model ahead of her 1996 wedding.
Hailey Bieber recently paid homage to style icon Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy by wearing a vintage dress that Bessette-Kennedy donned for her rehearsal dinner in 1996, just before marrying John F. Kennedy Jr. The gown, designed by Narciso Rodriguez for Cerruti, was sourced by Bieber and her stylist from My Runway Archive.
Rodriguez, who also designed Bessette-Kennedy's wedding gown, presented the dress as part of his third Cerruti collection in 1997. The runway version featured a sheer fishnet technique with nude beads, while Bessette-Kennedy's original was lined with a nude satin slip for her Cumberland Island, Georgia wedding weekend. Rodriguez and Bessette-Kennedy had a close working relationship, having met while both were at Calvin Klein, with Bessette-Kennedy serving as a muse for his collections.
Bieber's chosen dress is noted as being identical to the one worn by Bessette-Kennedy. The original design has a mysterious fate, with experts suggesting Bessette-Kennedy's personal items likely went to her family after her death in 1999, though some of her notable outfits have been sold at auction.
The dress has a significant fashion history, having also been worn by supermodel Kate Moss in an advertisement for Cerruti. This is not the first time Bieber has drawn inspiration from Bessette-Kennedy's style; she previously recreated a 1992 gown worn by Kelly Klein, an associate of Bessette-Kennedy's, for the TIME 100 Gala.
