Timeless Charm
The Kennedy charm at Julia Amory
Interview by Brian Bushard
Photography courtesy of Julia Amory
Thanks to the overnight sensation series “Love Story,” the entire world seems to be nostalgic for Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and New York City in the ’90s. Julia Amory, the lifestyle influencer and founder of the clothing brand that bears her name, remembers that time for Carolyn’s timeless grace. Three years ago, she developed a white Oxford shirt and named it the Carolyn shirt. It’s been her top-selling item ever since. “Good taste never goes out of style,” she said. This spring, Amory is launching her fourth brick and mortar location, on Nantucket. N Magazine caught up with her to discuss her style and Nantucket aesthetic.
Why are you setting up a store on Nantucket?
Julia Amory: Nantucket represents a legacy of American style that is in keeping with the direction and fiber of our brand. We have used our customer base to help guide us to every store location we have, and Nantucket was just that.
Have you spent any time on the island?
Amory: I didn’t begin to spend time on Nantucket until I was in my college years. Having spent a summer living on the Vineyard, we would pop over to visit my roommate from Trinity who was a bartender at Cisco Brewers. Over the years I’ve been lucky enough to visit the island many times in many chapters of my life and now look forward to being able to spend more time there with my children, and introducing them to the magic of the island.
How would you describe Nantucket fashion? Are there any hidden gems that stand out to you?
Amory: While there is an elegance to Nantucket style, there is also a truly authentic ease to the way people dress. In an era of fast fashion and ever-changing disposable garb, Nantucket represents a timeless elegance that I think now more than ever we are craving: Real people with real style wearing real clothes. We aim to create a product that will stand the test of time and trend.
Has Nantucket inspired your aesthetic?2
Amory: We are of course consistent in our branding and my own style, which is very much inspired and shaped by where and when I grew up. My father is European, but went to boarding school here in the states, as did my mother. There is an elevated casual sophistication that they both have that has very much shaped my approach to style. Old J. Press shirts and worn-in Levis. Peter Beaton hats and old boat totes are usually stained with ink and paint.
What is the story behind the Carolyn Shirt? Are there elements of the Kennedy style that you’ve brought to your brand?
Amory: I grew up in New York City in the ’90s. My father worked with [Jacqueline Kennedy] Onassis at Doubleday and my grandfather had overlapped at Yale with some of the Bouviers in East Hampton. He gave me a note she once wrote him, thanking him for some material he sent to her about her father’s time at Yale with his own father, which I still have on her 1040 [Fifth Avenue] stationery. When Carolyn came along, I, along with the rest of the world (Ralph Lauren included), was enamored by her timeless grace. Three years ago when we decided to develop a white Oxford shirt—always a staple of my own wardrobe—it felt fitting to pay tribute to someone who wore it a notch above the rest. And that is the genesis of the Carolyn shirt which remains our top selling item—proof that good taste never goes out of style.
What sets your brand apart?
Amory: I think an adherence to our core styles and customer versus a need to chase trends. We work in only natural fibers and aim to create clothes inspired by an American legacy of refined style that our customers will reach for in their closets for many seasons to come. We aim to balance timelessness but also maintain a playfulness with color and print in our collections.
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