Kim Kardashian wasn’t the one who dropped six figures on Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s iconic Prada coat.
When the late fashion figure’s camel coat sold for $192,000 at auction earlier this month, setting a world record for any piece she owned, people online quickly started guessing that Kardashian might have been behind the purchase.
“I swear to God if Kim K pops up with it,” one person wrote. Others described the sale as “dystopian” and “morbid.”
But Lucy Bishop from The Fashion Auctioneer, the group that handled the sale, told Page Six Style the coat actually went to a museum. She didn’t share which one, and several fashion institutions have been contacted to try and confirm where it ended up.
Kardashian, 45, wasn’t a random guess. The Skims founder has a history of collecting famous fashion pieces. Back in 2017, she paid $379,500 for a Cartier watch that once belonged to Jackie Kennedy Onassis. She later told Vogue she wore it to the White House because “it gave me some power.”
In 2022, she made headlines for wearing Marilyn Monroe’s “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” dress to the Met Gala. The next year, she spent $197,453 on Princess Diana’s amethyst and diamond Attallah Cross necklace at Sotheby’s.
According to Bishop, the Bessette Kennedy auction drew interest from all kinds of buyers. “It really was a mix between fans and fashion-loving women, but also really serious private collectors, museums and institutions,” she says.
The now record-setting coat, a size 42 double-faced wool angora design with a faux tortoiseshell Prada buckle, is one of Bessette Kennedy’s most recognizable pieces. She was photographed wearing it in March 1997 while out with JFK Jr., and again in October 1998 while walking their dog, Friday.
The hammer price landed at $160,000, with the final total reaching $192,000 after buyer’s fees.
Bessette Kennedy originally gave the coat to RoseMarie Terenzio, who worked as JFK Jr.’s longtime assistant and later wrote “JFK Jr.: An Intimate Oral Biography.” Terenzio eventually passed it, along with another camel Prada coat, to her friend Michele Ammon, who consigned both pieces for auction.
Terenzio also sold a couple of items from her own collection: an eggshell white Prada coat that went for just over $9,000, and a Yohji Yamamoto dress that brought in $20,000. Bessette Kennedy wore that dress to an event marking the anniversary of the Apollo space program on March 5, 1998.
This isn’t the first time Terenzio has sold items gifted to her. In 2024, she consigned three pieces to Sotheby’s, including a black Prada coat, a vintage leopard print coat, and a Yohji Yamamoto jacket. Staud founder Sarah Staudinger bought all three for a combined $177,600.
Terenzio has donated part of the proceeds from both auctions to Hearts of Gold, a nonprofit that supports homeless mothers and their children.
Interest in Bessette Kennedy has been picking up again, thanks in part to FX’s hit series Love Story, which has become the network’s most-watched limited series on streaming.
Bishop says the high price makes sense when you look at the bigger picture. “Even to buy a wool coat from Prada new from the store today will start at around $5,000,” she notes. While new pieces tend to lose value quickly, historic items often become more valuable over time.
© Justin Ide/Boston HeraldShe also pointed to Princess Diana’s market as an example. About ten years ago, one of Diana’s dresses might sell for around $50,000. Now, that number is closer to $1 million.
Only seven verified pieces from Bessette Kennedy’s wardrobe have ever been sold publicly, all originally given to Terenzio. The rest of her closet, including the Narciso Rodriguez wedding dress that had a huge influence on bridal fashion, has never been seen on the market.
Legally, her sister Lisa Bessette is believed to be the one in charge of what remains of the collection, though she keeps a low profile and hasn’t spoken publicly about it.
Meanwhile, Jackie Kennedy’s wardrobe has been widely displayed over the years, including the ivory Valentino gown she wore to marry Aristotle Onassis in 1968.
“I would love for there to be an exhibition on Carolyn Bessette Kennedy hosted by a major museum,” Bishop says. “I think that would be fantastic.”
Ahead of the auction, Bishop hosted a two-day exhibition in Chelsea, which drew a wide range of visitors. Women who remembered Bessette Kennedy from the ’90s showed up with their daughters to see the pieces in person.
“Women all over the world are still fascinated by her and still adore her,” Bishop says.
Read the full article here
