The FX series "Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette" presented a world created with a low-key, minimalist, and romantic atmosphere.
Ryan Murphy's film is set in the 1990s and chronicles the relationship between John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. Production designer Alex DiGerlando, a New Jersey native who attended New York University, was well-versed in the era.
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While creating a world that accurately reflects the era, he also found room for creative freedom. Here, diGerlando examines the series' key filming locations.
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis's Fifth Avenue apartment
The few surviving photographs of Jacqueline Kennedy's apartment were taken from the book "Cooking for Madame: Recipes and Memories from the Home of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis." A Sotheby's auction catalog, published after her death, provided additional information.
«"It's a stunning apartment, and it has impeccable taste, but some of its design choices were a bit at odds with what we wanted for the show," says DiGerlando, who allowed himself creative freedom in his designs. But he constantly questioned how closely he should match the original and how to "tweak the overall feel.".
Most of the furniture matched each other perfectly.
«"We changed the upholstery a bit. She had a blue-striped sofa in the dining room, but we made it pink and white striped to keep that tone," he explains. Elsewhere, Onassis had "ornate red-patterned wallpaper in the dining room"—the diGerlando team decided to replace it with a soft pink.
John F. Kennedy Jr.'s Attic
When designing the space, DiGerlando took cues from the lofts of the era, opting for plain white walls and avoiding hanging artwork.
«"It wasn't an easy choice," he admits. But it kept the focus on the actors. "I think it paid off, because when you watch the series as a whole, the actors really come to the forefront, and they feature prominently in the production design.".
The Golden Era of Hollywood became a source of inspiration.
«"If you look at classic Hollywood romantic films, the sets were built on a much smaller budget," he says. "They weren't called stars back then for nothing, because they were distractions, and that's all you really need. So we stuck to that philosophy.".
Calvin Klein offices
Klein's headquarters occupied an entire 17-story building on 39th Street in Manhattan, and DiGerlando enlisted interior designer Joe D'Urso, a pioneer of high-tech minimalism, to furnish the space with industrial materials and decorative elements.
When Klein moved his flagship store to Madison Avenue in the 1990s, he hired minimalist architect John Pawson. "Ryan and I were very inspired by Pawson's designs. He took minimalism to a new level," says DiGerlando, who has a treasure trove of archival photographs from the era.
It also reflected Klein's preferred modern minimalist style, using exterior spotlights on the walls and industrial shelving made of gray sheet metal, limiting the color palette to grays and neutrals.
Roxy
The famed New York nightclub Roxy no longer exists, so diGerlando headed to Brooklyn's Bushwick neighborhood to find Elsewhere—a much smaller venue with a "big, airy space and high ceilings." This was enough for diGerlando and his team to add swings, sofas, disco balls, and chandeliers, transforming the modern club into a 1990s venue.
Restaurant "Panna II Garden"«
Before the series aired on FX and Hulu, getting a reservation at Panna II was easy. Now, everything has changed: New Yorkers and tourists alike are flocking to the establishment.
«"It was one of the restaurants in the script that wasn't named. It was labeled as an Indian restaurant because some of the dialogue involved John being in India," explains DiGerlando.
He looked at numerous Indian restaurants, as well as other cuisines, that could be converted, but he found nothing that suited his tastes.
«"Miraculously, Panna II still exists, and it's virtually unchanged," he says. "Although the owner claims they dined there—I don't know if that's true—we thought it was a good spot. It's off the beaten path enough that you could believe he took her there for the shady spot.".
The restaurant's rich aesthetic allowed for a break from the minimalist rule. "It's that moment where they've seen each other before, but now their spark has deepened," he adds. "What better way to visualize that than with a cornucopia of exploding Christmas lights?"«
DiGerlando had to work hard to restore the facade to its historic appearance and remodel the health food store underneath: "It was a lot of work, but I'm very happy with the result.".
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