Getty Kit Keenan.
Kit Clementine Keenan, the youngest woman looking for love on Matt James’ season of The Bachelor, has been one of the most talked-about contenders since ABC announced the cast. She is the daughter of acclaimed fashion designer Cynthia Rowley and Brooklyn-based interior designer Bill Keenan.
Kit Keenan is a designer, podcast host and New York University college student with more than 88,000 followers on Instagram. She made a splash on night one by arriving in a Bentley rather than the traditional limo.
Kit Keenan inspired a good amount of discussion online before the season even started in part because of her famous mother. Chris Harrison mentioned Rowley during his “Meet the Women” live stream in December and described Keenan as among the “best dressed” women to ever appear on the show.
But Kit Keenan’s father is often left out of the discussion. For example, when she launched her own fashion line in 2019, the New York Times named her mother but did not mention Bill Keenan at all. Her profile on ABC’s website states that Kit lives with her parents, but that bio is actually referencing her mother and stepfather.
Here’s what you need to know:
Bill Keenan Has Primarily Worked on Design & Installation Projects for Major Retailers
LinkedInBill Keenan is an interior designer based in Brooklyn.
Bill Keenan is a professional designer and architect. According to his profile on Archinect, he studied sculpture and painting at the City University of New York Brooklyn College. Keenan noted he earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts in 1975. He listed “Interiors, Construction, Furniture Design” as his areas of specialization.
Keenan has primarily worked on retail projects throughout his professional career, according to his LinkedIn profile. One of the most high-profile companies listed on his LinkedIn account is luxury handbag company Coach. Keenan wrote that he served as the “Director of Design and Construction for Retail/Wholesale/International” from 1988 until 1992.
Keenan has worked on design projects for L’Occitane en Provence, Devialet and Callison. According to his LinkedIn account, Keenan currently works as a senior project manager for Ovation In-Store. He described his role on LinkedIn: “Managing the Design, Fabrication and Installation process of in store fixturing programs for luxury cosmetics and fashion brands.”
Cynthia Rowley & Bill Keenan Were Married at City Hall in Manhattan in 1996 & Mayor Rudy Giuliani Officiated
Kit Keenan’s parents had a whirlwind romance, as a friend of Rowley’s described to the New York Times. Ilene Rosenzweig told the newspaper, “Their romance happened very quickly. [Rowley and Keenan] fell in love, they knew it, they never looked back. They got into their own little airplane and took off.”
Rowley and Bill Keenan met at a dinner party in 1995 where they had been seated across the table from each other. Bill Keenan told the newspaper he and Rowley shared an instant connection. “A few minutes into the conversation, it was obvious we were on the same wavelength.”
Within a few months, they moved in together. The Times described their home in Ossining, New York as “a bungalow filled with toys, gloves, a mirrored ball and a bust of Elvis Presley.”
The couple tied the knot in May 1996 at City Hall in Manhattan. Then-mayor Rudy Giuliani officiated the ceremony. The reception took place at an airplane hangar in Brooklyn, which Rowley and Keenan shuttled their guests to using school buses.
Rowley and Keenan welcomed daughter Kit in 1999. But the marriage did not last much longer after that. It’s unclear when Rowley and Keenan officially split, but she remarried in 2005.
Kit Keenan’s Stepfather, Bill Powers, Has Been in Her Life Since She Was a Small Child
Getty Cynthia Rowley and husband Bill Powers pose with daughters Kit and Gigi at the Child Magazine Fall 2006 fashion show at Bryant Park on February 6, 2006 in New York City.
Kit Keenan included on her ABC bio that she “currently lives at home with her parents in the heart of the West Village while finishing her last year of undergrad at NYU.” She is referring to her mother and stepfather, Bill Powers.
Powers has been in Kit’s life since she was very young. According to the New York Times, Powers and Rowley have been together since at least 2003.
Rowley married Powers in an outdoor ceremony in Montauk, Long Island, on September 17, 2005. Rowley remembered the wedding as “crazy and wild” when she talked about it to Glamour in 2012. She added, “We served lobster and French fries for dinner, followed by dancing and trampoline-jumping.” The same year, Rowley gave birth to a second daughter, Gigi Clementine Powers.
Reality TV fans may recognize Powers from Bravo. He hosted a reality competition called Work of Art: The Next Great Artist. The show aired for two seasons in 2010 and 2011.
Powers is an art dealer and gallery owner in New York City. According to USA Art News, Powers owns the Half Gallery located in Manhattan’s East Village and focuses on spotlighting artwork by “newly emerging artists.” The outlet added that Powers and Rowley had owned a print company called Exhibition A but sold it in 2019 to “pay off outstanding debts.”
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