“There’s going to be a lot of new blondes out there!” was one of my first thoughts following the premiere of Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette. After all, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s blonde hair made her signature look hers. Just don’t call it platinum, says her former stylist, Brad Johns.
Brad is a now-retired renowned celebrity hair stylist (really, an artist). Residing in LA, he still uses his hands, this time to make beautiful glass art. He also published a memoir of his life called Dye: a memoir of art, music, faith, family and hair color. Recently, I chatted with Brad about his work. As a former platinum blonde myself, I know firsthand that blonde is a journey between a colorist and client.
Carolyn was referred to Brad by RoseMarie Terenzio, who went to him first. According to Brad, Carolyn started seeing him before she was publicly dating JFK Jr. He was responsible for her blonding up until her wedding, which was the last time he did her hair. Following the wedding, there was a storied falling out, which Brad is open about. The rift itself has been debated within the Carolyn community over the years. In short, the story goes that Brad was overly promotional of his work with Carolyn, leading John to send him a cease and desist.
Looking on from 2026, it’s clear that Brad was before his time in the way he promoted his work with Carolyn. Now it is not uncommon for wardrobe stylists, makeup artists and hair stylists to partner with their celebrity clients to promote their work. In the 90s, having a team of people around a celebrity to create their look was just becoming a thing, it was not a norm. Whatever happened between Brad, Carolyn and John, the fact remains that Brad used his artistry to create Carolyn’s unique and stunning shade of blonde.
Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s Blonde: The process of An Artist
“When she started coming to me, she had light brown hair with highlights in the front,” Brad shared, “but they were the wrong color.” One of my first questions was if platinum was the goal from the beginning. “I would describe the color as pale gold,” he quickly corrected me. And, as it turns out, that wasn’t the original plan, but like most blondes, the fun really starts when the hair goes blonder and blonder and blonder.
Ever the artist, Brad told Carolyn that he works in seasons so she was going to have to wait to go lighter. Light shades of blonde were for spring and summer while fall and winter were for golden blondes. The way Brad described Carolyn’s hair surprised me–he said it was very “surfer girl,” with beautiful pieces that would turn white blonde in the sun.
Brad used a single process for Carolyn’s hair and would often just lighten it as they did the roots. In sharing the specifics of his process, Brad said he would lighten her whole head for one minute, take it out to knock out the dark blonde. From there, he would use 12 packets of foil for additional highlights.
My most burning question I saved for the end of our delightful discussion. I had never seen a photo of Carolyn with any sort of roots once her hair was all over blonde. “I have to ask, how often did you do her roots?” The answer? “Every 10 days unless she had an event,” Brad said. “I told her, you have to come in when you have an event so you never have roots.”
Brad’s artistry helped highlight and enhance Carolyn’s style and mystique. I found myself wondering what they talked about for the hours and hours they spent together. Brad didn’t reveal too many secrets, but shared some delightful details about Carolyn. “We were both Italian so we talked about our moms’ rigatoni.” Brad described Carolyn as “not bitchy, she wasn’t full of herself, she was just a regular girl.” Yes, a regular girl with the most amazing hair.
