Did Carolyn Bessette Kennedy Actually Interview at Ralph Lauren After Leaving Calvin Klein?

Catherine SantinoFri, March 13, 2026 at 2:54 PM UTC

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Carolyn Bessette Kennedy.Credit: Bei/Shutterstock -

On episode 7 of Love Story, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy is depicted interviewing at Ralph Lauren after quitting her job at Calvin Klein, but the storyline may have been fabricated

Carolyn left Calvin Klein in 1996 a few months before she married JFK Jr. in September of that year

Here's what we know about Carolyn's career in fashion

Carolyn Bessette Kennedy famously left her job at Calvin Klein in 1996, but did she have further aspirations in the fashion industry?

In episode 7 of FX's Love Story, which aired on Thursday, March 12, Carolyn (played by Sarah Pidgeon) resigns from her post at the fashion label and then pursues a job at Ralph Lauren.

One scene depicts Carolyn interviewing at the brand before the paparazzi disrupt the meeting. In that moment, she realizes that she couldn't work there because of her newfound fame.

However, this aspect of Carolyn's life was likely fabricated. A source close to the late publicist tells PEOPLE that she never interviewed at Ralph Lauren. ("She would never have had to interview," says the insider), though the designer may have been interested in working with her. "Every designer was interested in working with her," says the source. The insider adds that Carolyn had no plans to return to the fashion world.

Carolyn began her first job at Calvin Klein in 1988 as a store salesperson at the Chestnut Hill Mall in Newton, Mass. The New York Times reported that a traveling sales coordinator visited the location and spotted Bessette, who was then recommended for a higher position.

At the time, Calvin Klein president Susan Sokol was looking for someone to help with the brand's celebrity stars in New York City. After accepting the position, Bessette began working with high-profile clients, including Diane Sawyer and Annette Bening, as seen in the first episode of Love Story.

"Carolyn fit the bill perfectly," Sokol told The New York Times. "She was absolutely charming, she was completely refreshing, she was completely outgoing."

“People were saying, ‘Have you heard of this new girl at Calvin?’ " George Carr, whose brother Zack Carr was Klein’s creative director, recalled to PEOPLE. "She entered the fashion world like Venus coming up out of the ocean. Calvin saw it immediately. Everyone was talking about her.”

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Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and Calvin Klein.Credit: Fairchild Archive/Penske Media via Getty

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Throughout her nearly eight years at the company, she was promoted from a celebrity salesperson to a public relations director and then to show production director, per The New York Times. In her final role, she oversaw runway shows.

Carolyn left Calvin Klein in spring 1996, a few months before she married JFK Jr. in September of that year.

In Love Story, she quits her job when her relationship with JFK Jr. starts to overshadow her work and the company. While Carolyn didn't publicly reveal the reason for her departure, a close friend told PEOPLE that she was "ready to move on."

Carolyn met her future husband during the time when she was working at Calvin Klein, though there are different stories of their first encounter.

In the book that inspired Love Story, Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, author Elizabeth Beller wrote that the two met when JFK Jr. came to Calvin Klein for a suit fitting in 1992.

However, friends of the couple have also said Carolyn and JFK Jr. were first introduced at a fundraiser.

In JFK Jr, An Intimate Oral Biography, co-authored by PEOPLE's Liz McNeil and John's former executive assistant RoseMarie Terenzio, actor Paul Eckstein shared how John had asked him to introduce him to Carolyn at a Naked Angels party. (Naked Angels was a downtown theater troupe, and John was on the board.)

"He was like, 'Yo, man, you gotta hook me up. Who is that girl? Introduce me,' " Eckstein shared. "I was like, 'John, I’m not going to introduce you to anybody. You’re f----- John Kennedy. Go introduce yourself.' We were doing a 1940's speakeasy theme for this party, and we were both dressed in cheesy 1940's outfits. I had a crush on Carolyn’s sister Lauren. He was trying to get me to help introduce him to Carolyn and I wouldn’t do it. Of course, he met her."

Love Story executive producer Brad Simpson told USA Today that there are different versions, "But the most common narrative [of] how they met was at this fundraiser ... so we decided that would be their first meeting."

on People

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