Icon of the 90s, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy only swore by a specific perfume. Very difficult to find, there is another alternative: a fragrance specially invented after the star’s scent.
Minimalist, chic, magnetic… Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy was one of those stars who fascinated the world in the 90s. Ironically, she hated being a celebrity and avoided the paparazzi. Recently, her love story with John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr was the subject of a series on Disney+ called love story. The opportunity to delve back into the archives of her immaculate style, but also her beauty looks and especially her perfume. A smell that was completely his own.
From several sources, we learn that Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy was not a fan of perfumes from luxury brands. On the contrary, on a daily basis she wore an Egyptian musk oil from the Kareem Abdul brand that she found in a small boutique in Chelsea (New York) or that she bought from a street vendor (the versions differ depending on the sources). “This smell belonged completely to him; it floated in her wake and remained on her clothes long after she took them off“, even writes Carole Radziwill, journalist and close friend of Carolyn in her autobiography What Remains (2007). Egyptian musk is known for being a skin scent that smells both clean and soapy, while also being very intimate. A scent that totally fits with Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s minimalist and chic look. Although today it is almost impossible to obtain this precious bottle, a fragrance was specially invented based on the star’s scent: For Her, by Narciso Rodriguez.
To understand the link, we need to go back in time slightly. The stylist and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy meet in the corridors of Calvin Klein where they work. Very quickly, the duo became friends and Narciso Rodriguez even designed her wedding dress which has become cult. After the disappearance of the young woman, the couturier wishes to pay tribute to her through a perfume. To imagine it, he called on the nose Francis Kurkdjian who we now know for his famous brand. This is then the birth of For Her.
The scent opens with a luminous freshness of orange blossom and the velvety accents of osmanthus, giving a first impression of clean sophistication. Very quickly, the heart of Egyptian musk takes over with a warm and addictive scent, which evokes the smell of skin heated by the sun. Finally come the base notes: patchouli and amber which provide a woody and mysterious structure. For Her is both minimalist and deeply sensual. It does not invade the space but gives a magnetic side to the person who wears it. The very olfactory translation of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy: a simple, refined appearance but with a haute couture and resolutely chic structure.
If Narciso Rodriguez never wanted to elaborate on the strong link between his creation and his friend, nose Francis Kurkdjian confirmed to the American media Allure, in 2015, the main inspiration behind For Her: Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. The name given to the perfume is all the more evocative… A way for the couturier to pay eternal homage to the woman who meant so much to him, and to continue to honor her… olfactory memory.
