Coats worn by Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, fashion icon and JFK Jr.'s wife, to be auctioned

Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, seen here with husband John F. Kennedy Jr. in May 1999, gifted three coats to her friend, who is now putting them up for auction.
Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, seen here with husband John F. Kennedy Jr. in May 1999, gifted three coats to her friend, who is now putting them up for auction.

Apparel worn by the late American style icon Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, John F. Kennedy Jr.'s wife, will soon be going up for auction.

Auction house Sotheby's announced two coats and a jacket previously owned by Bessette-Kennedy will be part of their Fashion Icons collection next month. The Calvin Klein publicist, who skyrocketed to fame when she started dating JFK Jr. and died along with him and her sister Lauren Bessette when the plane he was flying crashed into the ocean in 1999, gifted the outerwear to her friend RoseMarie Terenzio, per Sotheby's.

Bessette-Kennedy gave Terenzio, who was formerly JFK Jr.'s executive assistant and now the founder of RMT PR Management, a vintage faux leopard coat to wear on a first date in 1996, per Sotheby's.

From left, a 1997 Yohji Yamamoto jacket, a vintage faux leopard coat and a black Prada coat worn by Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and gifted to her friend RoseMarie Terenzio, will be auctioned by Sotheby's in December 2024.
From left, a 1997 Yohji Yamamoto jacket, a vintage faux leopard coat and a black Prada coat worn by Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and gifted to her friend RoseMarie Terenzio, will be auctioned by Sotheby's in December 2024.

Terenzio told the auction house Bessette-Kennedy was her "fashion fairy godmother," recalling, "Whenever I would be going out on a date, Carolyn would say, 'What are you wearing? Come down and we'll pick something out for you to wear.'"

Also going up for auction are a black Prada coat and a 1997 wool Yohji Yamamoto jacket "unearthed" by Terenzio. Sotheby's says Bessette-Kennedy was pictured wearing the wool jacket in March 1997 and the Prada coat in January 1997.

The auction house expects the garments to fetch between $15,000 and $20,000.

Sotheby's has made headlines in recent years for putting items once owned by iconic figures up on the auction block. Last year, Princess Diana's famous black sheep wool sweater fetched $1.1 million, allegedly a record-setting price for an item worn by the late princess, after a last-minute bidding war made the price jump from $190,000 to over a million. Months prior, Kim Kardashian had the winning bid of $197,453 at a Sotheby's auction for Princess Diana's pendant, the amethyst and diamond "Attallah Cross."

The Fashion Icons auction begins Nov. 27 and runs through Dec. 17. The items will be on display at Sotheby’s New York on Dec. 5-10.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy's coats to be auctioned by Sotheby's