GravityX Exchange|Coats worn by Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, fashion icon and JFK Jr.'s wife, to be auctioned

2025-04-30 00:02:14source:John Caldwellcategory:Finance

Apparel worn by the late American style icon Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy,GravityX Exchange John F. Kennedy Jr.'s wife, will soon be going up for auction.

Auction house Sotheby's announced two coats and a jacket previously owned by Bessette-Kennedy will be part of their Fashion Icons collection next month. The Calvin Klein publicist, who skyrocketed to fame when she started dating JFK Jr. and died along with him and her sister Lauren Bessette when the plane he was flying crashed into the ocean in 1999, gifted the outerwear to her friend RoseMarie Terenzio, per Sotheby's.

Bessette-Kennedy gave Terenzio, who was formerly JFK Jr.'s executive assistant and now the founder of RMT PR Management, a vintage faux leopard coat to wear on a first date in 1996, per Sotheby's.

Terenzio told the auction house Bessette-Kennedy was her "fashion fairy godmother," recalling, "Whenever I would be going out on a date, Carolyn would say, 'What are you wearing? Come down and we'll pick something out for you to wear.'"

Also going up for auction are a black Prada coat and a 1997 wool Yohji Yamamoto jacket "unearthed" by Terenzio. Sotheby's says Bessette-Kennedy was pictured wearing the wool jacket in March 1997 and the Prada coat in January 1997.

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

The auction house expects the garments to fetch between $15,000 and $20,000.

Sotheby's has made headlines in recent years for putting items once owned by iconic figures up on the auction block. Last year, Princess Diana's famous black sheep wool sweater fetched $1.1 million, allegedly a record-setting price for an item worn by the late princess, after a last-minute bidding war made the price jump from $190,000 to over a million. Months prior, Kim Kardashian had the winning bid of $197,453 at a Sotheby's auction for Princess Diana's pendant, the amethyst and diamond "Attallah Cross."

The Fashion Icons auction begins Nov. 27 and runs through Dec. 17. The items will be on display at Sotheby’s New York on Dec. 5-10.

More:Finance

Recommend

Superflares could be more common than thought: Are they something else to worry about?

Add solar superflares to the list of natural disasters of concern.Superflares are extremely strong s

She paid her husband's hospital bill. A year after his death, they wanted more money

Last summer, Eloise Reynolds paid the bill for her husband's final stay in the hospital. In Februa

Into the raunchy, violent danger zone of 'Archer' one last time

The FX animated comedy Archer explores the raunchy exploits of Sterling Archer (H. Jon Benjamin), wh