Hailey Bieber stepped out in London wearing the same archival Narciso Rodriguez design that Carolyn Bessette Kennedy chose for her 1996 rehearsal dinner.
The model, 28, attended an event at Harry’s Bar on Tuesday night in the plunging vintage gown, working with stylist Dani Michelle to source the piece from My Runway Archive. The dress originated from Rodriguez’s third Cerruti collection in 1997, though the version that appeared on the runway was constructed from a completely sheer fishnet technique using nude caviar beads.
Rodriguez had lined that original design with a nude satin slip specifically for Bessette Kennedy to wear during her secret wedding weekend on Cumberland Island, Georgia. At the time, the designer was consulting for Cerruti and developing the collection with his friend as a major muse.
The vintage purveyor where Bieber obtained the dress notes that her midi version “is not the same exact dress” that Bessette Kennedy wore on the eve of her nuptials to John F. Kennedy Jr. The whereabouts of the actual garment remain unknown, part of a broader mystery surrounding the late style icon’s personal wardrobe and her trend-setting wedding gown.
Some of Bessette Kennedy’s most memorable looks have surfaced at auction over the years, but experts have indicated that her more personal items likely remained with her family following her death in 1999.
Kate Moss also wore the famous design, modeling the gown in a Cerruti ad campaign. Moss had first met Rodriguez when he worked at Calvin Klein and she was selected to model for the brand by Bessette Kennedy herself.
This marks another deliberate homage by Bieber to the world of ’90s minimalist style icons. She regularly channels Bessette Kennedy’s casual aesthetic, and this past spring she recreated an iridescent sheer lace gown originally worn by Kelly Klein—Calvin Klein’s ex-wife and a dear friend of Carolyn’s—back in 1992.
Rodriguez’s role in Bessette Kennedy’s wedding narrative proved transformative for his career. The secret nuptials put him on the map in a major way, with his designs for the bride becoming among the most referenced bridal moments of the decade.
The connection between Bieber’s current style choices and this archival fashion lineage highlights the ongoing cultural resonance of Bessette Kennedy’s restrained, elegant aesthetic nearly three decades after her wedding. The original runway version’s sheer construction and caviar bead detailing represented a technical achievement that Rodriguez modified for private, practical wear.
Bieber’s appearance at Harry’s Bar continues her pattern of selecting pieces with direct historical provenance rather than simply approximating vintage style. The sourcing through My Runway Archive indicates a deliberate curatorial approach to these fashion references.
The enduring fascination with Bessette Kennedy’s wardrobe extends beyond individual garments to questions of preservation and inheritance. While auction houses have handled certain pieces, the location of her engagement ring and wedding dress specifically remains unconfirmed.
Bieber’s London outing demonstrates how contemporary celebrity style continues to mine this particular vein of ’90s fashion history, treating archival pieces as wearable artifacts rather than museum-bound relics.
The model’s stylistic alignment with Bessette Kennedy’s aesthetic has become a recurring theme in her public appearances, distinguishing her approach from more trend-driven contemporaries. Tuesday’s event maintained this established through-line with the specific, documented provenance of the Rodriguez design.
Bieber has not publicly commented on the significance of this particular archival selection.