The Big Business of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy

Can a nine-episode limited series really impact an entire season of shopping trends? Today brands are experiencing—and chasing—the “Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy effect” as a result of Ryan Murphy’s Love Story. And in many cases, it’s more pervasive than they could have prepared for.

The FX series, based on the relationship between John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, ran from February 12 to March 26, 2026. In that time a cultural obsession with Bessette-Kennedy’s minimalistic ’90s style has taken over the trend cycle, with fans scrambling to hunt down her signature scent, go-to Levi’s, and tortoiseshell accessories.

Brands with an authentic connection to Bessette-Kennedy, including some New York City small businesses, experienced unprecedented surges in consumer demands for products touted as her staples. And other fashion, beauty, and accessory retailers found—and stretched—any viable connection to the style icon’s aesthetic in attempt to get a piece of the pie.

Love Story’s critics have pointed out the bizarre nature of the all-consuming 2026 trends based on the aesthetic taste of a famously private person—especially one who died tragically over 25 years ago. It’s also worth acknowledging that the current public desire to emulate Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy is the result of a fictionalization of her life. But the show’s cultural impact over the last seven weeks, especially in beauty and fashion commerce, has been impossible to deny.

Ahead, we spoke to retailers connected to Bessette-Kennedy about how sales, marketing strategies, and consumer interest have shifted in response to the Love Story phenomenon.

Glamour previously reported on the surge of first-time customers visiting C.O. Bigelow, the 1838-founded Greenwich Village pharmacy where Bessette-Kennedy bought her tortoise headbands. “People on social media have really dug into her lifestyle—where she shopped, where she would eat—and have really explored us and discovered us through that,” said C.O. Bigelow’s marketing manager, Sarah Barnes. “It’s been a really insane, insane time for us.”

In addition to a viral social media moment and weekend crowds, the C.O. Bigelow team reported significant increases in demand for the French-imported Charles Wahba headbands. While the pharmacy had stopped sharing sales metrics when we spoke in March, Emily Sunberg, the writer of culture-meets-business Substack Feed Me, reported that the store sold over six figures’ worth of hair accessories in February alone, per C.O. Bigelow’s chief operating officer.

Selima Optique, the small luxury eyewear brand that made Bessette-Kennedy’s signature oval sunglasses, reports a similar surge in Love Story–related demand. The brand still sells the Aldo, the frames that Bessette-Kennedy actually wore, in addition to the Carolyn, a larger oval model that many customers find more flattering. Last spring they added the CBK (a similar made-to-order frame) to the lineup.

Brand director Théo Salaun tells Glamour that he first learned about the show when Ryan Murphy’s props team visited the store to source sunglasses for Pidgeon. The Aldo—the actual model that Salaun says Carolyn Bessette purchased “in every color” when the line was sold at Barney’s—“was just slightly too small and didn’t fit [Pidgeon] perfectly.” The store provided the Carolyn frames that she wears in the show, as well as some period-accurate shades for Paul Anthony Kelly’s JFK Jr.

Since the premiere, “online sales for the Carolyn and CBK have gone up 1,000%, and Aldo [sales] and Aldo [sales] went up over 2,700%, just looking at the Black and Auburn Tortoise [shades],” Salaun says. An eBay representative also tells Glamour that searches for vintage Selima Optique Sunglasses had increased by 990% year over year in February 2026.

Salaun also reports a significant increase in foot traffic at Selima Optique’s SoHo location, noting that since the majority of the in-store stock comes in small batches from a New York atelier and a French partner company, many new customers come in to try on the frames before ordering online. According to Salaun, the new customer base skews a bit younger: “It’s been sweet to see. There’s a lot of the West Village girls who want to see the stores that Carolyn was shopping at.”

Beyond her authentic accessories, Bessette-Kennedy’s minimalist approach to ’90s beauty has also seen a major trend resurgence. Take her alleged signature fragrance, for example: Abdul Kareem’s Egyptian Musk Oil, a perfume frequently sold by New York city street vendors for under $20 in the ’90s, was discontinued when its creator passed away.

Fragrance brands have been quick to promote their closest offerings, but if you want the real deal, bottles are listed on eBay for up to $5,000. And the demand is there: An eBay representative tells Glamour that searches for “Abdul Kareem Egyptian Musk Oil” increased by 8,750% year over year from February 2025 to February 2026.

Countless cosmetic brands have also adapted to highlight products that channel Bessette-Kennedy’s makeup choices—fresh skin, minimal eye makeup, and the occasional lived-in red lip. Bobbi Brown’s Ruby lipstick and Bone eye shadow are frequently referenced as Bessette-Kennedy’s favorites, although the Bobbi Brown team tells Glamour that it is “unable to comment on specific individuals or confirm product usage” and notes that exact products she might have used are no longer available.

Still, following Love Story’s premiere, the Bobbi Brown team reports significant increases in sales, search volume, and in-store inquiries for the Long-Wear Cream Shadow Stick in Bone and Crushed Lipstick in Ruby: “Notably, on-site searches for Crushed Lipstick in Ruby have increased 600% year over year over the past month, with retailer sales increasing by as much as 286% year over year—a trend that has continued as new episodes have aired.”

Beyond her makeup choices, Bessette-Kennedy’s signature sunny blonde hair also dominated beauty trends during the run of Love Story. The show’s hair designer, Barry Lee Moe, and hair colorist, Kari Hill, broke down their exact process—using products and techniques from salon brand Schwarzkopf Professional—to perfect Sarah Pidgeon’s blonde hair color. The brand named the technique Foiled Cashmere and promoted it on social media as an attainable salon request for clients hoping to emulate Bessette-Kennedy’s look.

It worked. The Schwarzkopf Professional team tells Glamour that “new user registration on Schwarzkopf Professional’s eAcademy grew by approximately 527% in the five weeks after the launch of the Foiled Cashmere certification course.” Additionally, direct client inquiries about the technique increased by 45%, with more than 1,000 messages asking how to request the Foiled Cashmere treatment in salons.

American skincare brand Kiehl’s—which began as a New York City pharmacy—also capitalized directly upon its connection to the Kennedy couple during the peak of Love Story’s popularity. The brand launched the Iconic Duo Kit in March 2026, which reportedly paired “two heritage products widely reported to have been favorites of the iconic couple”: Crème With Silk Groom (a lightweight styling cream) and Original Musk Eau de Toilette (a unisex fragrance).

Guillaume Monsel, head of marketing at Kiehl’s US, tells Glamour that the brand’s implication that these two products were purchased by the couple “was confirmed directly by the American Love Story production team,” who he says “identified both individuals as fans of Kiehl’s as part of their historical accuracy research.” Monsel also says that a former anonymous Kiehl’s employee “recalls helping to select products including Crème Wth Silk Groom as part of her and JFK’s grooming routine during the 1990s.”

It turns out the mere mention of the couple was enough to entice customers. “Since the release of Love Story, Kiehl’s has seen a 159% lift in site traffic to Crème With Silk Groom and a 86% lift in site traffic to Musk Eau de Toilette Spray,” Monsel told Glamour in mid-March.

Monsel also says that the brand’s decision to promote the stand-alone products as an Iconic Duo package was an “an agile strategic response to the organic surge in interest for ’90s minimalism stemming from a cultural moment.” Recognizing the potential to leverage a period-accurate connection—as opposed to the modern-day, “get the look” promotional strategy adopted by other brands—“Kiehl’s moved quickly to pair these products in a shoppable duo,” Monsel says.

Other powerhouse brands were less overt with their marketing choices. Bessette-Kennedy famously wore the J.Crew Rollneck sweater—a 1988-launched cotton pullover that remains a signature style for the brand. Sarah Pidgeon was shown wearing a cream Rollneck in several episodes of Love Story. J.Crew declined to share metrics related to increased consumer interest or Rollneck sales since the show’s premiere.

Rather than referencing Bessette-Kennedy directly, J.Crew used the tagline, “A Rollneck for Every Love Story” to promote the piece on social media. On Instagram, the brand shared photos of vintage catalog ads for the sweater. The brand also circulated a shoppable Instagram ad featuring a folded cream Rollneck, a tortoiseshell headband, and oval sunglasses—undisputed CBK signatures—with the same Love Story tagline.

“From my perspective, the renewed interest in the Rollneck has felt incredibly organic—it’s a reflection of how timeless, well-designed pieces naturally find their moment again,” says Olympia Gayot, creative director and head of design for J.Crew Women’s and Crewcuts. “The way it’s being shown today is intentionally understated, with subtle nods to that classic, effortless East Coast sensibility. I’m always drawn to style that feels personal and instinctive, and that’s very much the spirit of how the Rollneck is being worn now.”

Plenty of brands with no affiliation to Bessette-Kennedy or Love Story have executed bold promotional strategies inspired by her aesthetic—some even controversially asserting which of their products Bessette-Kennedy “would have” loved in 2026. But many shoppers continue to prioritize authenticity, seeking out the vintage styles she actually favored.

“As Love Story took over feeds and screens in February, CBK-inspired style followed suit—global searches for the [CBK-related] terms surged,” an eBay representative tells Glamour. In addition to the staggering search volume for Bessette-Kennedy’s discontinued signature scent, eBay shared that searches for second-hand J. Crew Rollneck sweaters increased over 100% year over year from February 2025 to February 2026. “In February 2026, global eBay users searched for Calvin Klein more than 3,600 times per hour,” the retailer’s representative says. Representatives from Calvin Klein did not respond to Glamour’s inquiries about Love Story’s impact on current business.

Bessette-Kennedy’s signature style is lauded for its timelessness. Yet in 2026, both brands’ and consumers’ response to Love Story’s popularity has been swift and all-consuming. The so-called CBK trend emphasizes basics, quality, and minimalism. But the response has felt much more in line with our social media-driven, ever-changing trend cycle than the period it seeks to emulate.

Grace McCarty is the associate beauty editor at Glamour.