The Vice of Reading

Prince was devoted to the art of dressing. A multi-million selling artist and musical trailblazer, he used fashion as an added storytelling tool. On His Royal Badness explores how Prince’s distinctive style disrupts hegemonic, heteronormative and Black masculinities, and considers his own reverence for fashion and self-expression. As a lifelong fan and academic specialising in the field, Casci Ritchie believes Prince’s transgressive acts of dress warrant further exploration and acknowledgement within fashion, and here she begins that journey, from ornate ear cuff down to bespoke heel. Taking core pieces from his wardrobe, she embarks on a greatest hits compilation of how the simplest pieces can tell the most incredible stories, and how they act as their own marker for Prince’s career and surrounding cultural impact. Fearless in style and experimentation, Prince’s impact upon contemporary fashion deserves a closer look and this is just that. Unaffiliated with the Prince estate.