Photo: Arnaldo Magnani/Getty Images
When Narciso Rodriguez designed Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s wedding dress in 1996, he inadvertently altered the fashion industry. His take on matrimony was minimalist — a bias-cut silk slip — and a stark departure from the poofy and billowing A-line silhouettes that had dominated the previous decade. For the designer, who met Bessette Kennedy while they were both working at Calvin Klein, he was simply making a dress for the person he considered a best friend. But to the rest of the world, Rodriguez was the man responsible for creating the defining, and perhaps most famous, look of the 1990s.
Nearly 30 years later, the dress continues to serve as a North Star on bridal mood boards and has a lore all its own, especially now that it’s getting a second life in the TV series Love Story. In the sixth episode, aptly titled “The Wedding,” the nuptials between America’s favorite son and Calvin Klein’s favorite publicist are almost halted by a fashion emergency. Rodriguez, who went on to have a successful career in fashion with his own namesake line, spoke with The Cut to clear a few things up about the wedding dress.
Tell me about your start in fashion.
I always wanted to create a fragrance; I always wanted to make a dress; I always wanted to work in fashion. I was really lucky because I went to Parsons and worked for Donna [Karan]. I worked at Calvin [Klein] at such an amazing time through the ’90s. I met Carolyn there. I got to dress Marky Mark for his ad. The girls in the office across the street — I don’t know how they knew he was changing on the floor — but they had big poster boards with their phone numbers pressed up against the window.
Shoot your shot, I guess. When you started at Calvin Klein, what was it like working there?
It was the most amazing time to join the company. Calvin worked so hard. He’s such a visionary, and he was reinventing things, and he brought me in to work on some licensed product, then quickly put me on a collection. There was just inspiration everywhere. It’s funny, when you’re working, you don’t realize what’s happening, especially then. I look back at my career, or specifically that time in my career, and how incredible it was. We worked around the clock and the fashion shows were exhausting and all that stuff. Now I’m like, Wow, that was incredible. What an incredible experience in my lifetime.
The show makes it look like the office was a vibe — celebrities coming in and out; everybody is ripping cigarettes. Was it actually like that?
It was like a turbine engine and we were inside of it. We smoked, and it was a different time. There was this hum on all the floors where the energy was palpable. Every department was connected. It was an incredible vibe with incredibly cool, chic people and really nice people.
Eventually you started a label under your own name. How did you know it was time for you to create something for you?
It wasn’t something that I had planned, but I think it’s every designer’s dream to do their own thing. I made Carolyn’s wedding dress, which was everywhere, and it brought a lot of attention to the work that I was doing in Paris. And then I was approached by several people at LVMH to work with them, which I did, and then I had the opportunity to start my own collection. It was very successful for many years, and I really enjoyed it. But it was tough, because I was working in New York, in Paris, in Madrid, living out of a bag. It was exhausting, and I didn’t get to see my friends often. When John and Carolyn died, I just needed to come home and be here and be settled.
Your friendship with Carolyn seemed so special. Do you remember what your first interaction was like?
She was just the beautiful girl at Calvin. We always hung out together. Weirdly enough, I was looking for an apartment, and a Realtor called me and said, “Oh, there’s this great apartment. You have to come down and see it right now or it’s going to go.” I ran down and it happened to be in the same building that she lived in. I came back to the office and I said, “I just took an apartment in your building.” She was like, “What?!” and then our relationship just got even stronger, because we were basically living in my apartment.
You made Carolyn’s wedding dress. What was the inspiration for the dress, and how long did it take for it to come together?
She was the inspiration for the dress. We talked about something that wasn’t fussy. I tried to pin her down and sketch with me several times, but she wouldn’t. She always had a reason to walk the dog when I brought my sketchbook over. I went to Paris, and I worked on a couple of gowns, and she liked how I was making those kinds of dresses. She pulled the neckline down, and that was it. It was really such a simple meeting of the minds. We knew each other so well, and she was so gorgeous, I knew what to accentuate.
When I was working in Paris, I’d become quite friendly with Azzedine Alaïa, and he’s the master of bias-cut dresses. I asked him if I could bring it over and show him what I was working on. He tried every which way to get the name of who I was making this dress for, which of course, I wouldn’t tell him. He had me move the seams over half an inch. It was such a labor of love. It was such a personal thing that I worked on — working on the gloves and the veil and all the details to make it perfect for her.
Did you feel any pressure when designing the dress, considering this was probably going to become one of the most iconic, famous dresses of the decade?
I felt no pressure because I was making the dress for my best friend, and I never thought beyond that. But when I got home from the wedding, there were news trucks outside of my apartment, and I couldn’t have imagined that it would be like that, or what it’s become even today. It’s an amazing thing.
The dress has kind of taken on a life of its own. I have friends now that are getting married, and they’re like, “If only I could have this exact dress.”
Personally, I never understand why or how people — it’s like the most special day in your life, and you want to look amazing — why do you have all that regalia on? It’s so heavy and you can’t move and you can’t dance and it’s hot. That’s the opposite of what you want to feel.
How did you want Carolyn to feel in her wedding dress?
Carolyn said to me that I create a frame for a woman’s personality and beauty to shine. And I love that. I always think that it’s my job to do that, to make a woman feel like her best self, that she shines. It’s not the dress that you notice. Look at that photograph of her. It’s her and that smile.
There’s this famous story that you guys made some last-minute alterations literally just before the wedding. In the TV series, the dress can’t get over her head because she’s already put on a full face of makeup. Is that true?
Not at all. I’ve heard so many amazing stories — the dress didn’t fit, people that were present weren’t present. It was just her and I in the bathroom, putting this dress over her head. I guess it comes with the lore.
Photo: FX
You mentioned the news trucks outside your apartment when you came back from the wedding. Can you tell me a little bit about how your life changed after that moment?
It was very different. I love my work and the craft, and I’ve always been very focused on sketching and doing the work. The fabulous designer image in the press is not, and wasn’t, my goal or my dream. It’s lovely that it brought a lot of attention, but it was also really invasive. I’m happy to be backstage, making the clothes. All of a sudden, I was very front of stage. It was hard to navigate. I’m a pretty shy person. I was younger, I was naïve, and all of a sudden life just changed dramatically. I was living in the East Village, having a very different kind of life, and from one day to the next, it changed, and then I was showing in Paris, and photographers were beating each other up over the head with their camera lenses to get through the door of the show. It was madness.
What was it like for you to see one of your closest friends, in one of your designs, marrying somebody they loved?
It was a personal moment for me. It was a beautiful moment. It wasn’t about the dress. I was not aware of it. I was celebrating my friend’s wedding.
This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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