A previously unseen photo of Prince was chosen by Carine Roitfeld to grace the '90s themed issue of her CR Men’s Book.
The popular publication, the male edition of Roitfeld’s CR Fashion Book launched in 2015, is celebrating all things 1999 with its latest issue, with late singer Prince a fitting cover star thanks to his hit about the final year of the ‘90s.
The black and white snap was shot by Steven Klein in 1989 at the singer’s Paisley Park home, and features the CR signature in purple, a nod to one of Prince’s most famous songs, Purple Rain.
Showing off his androgynous sex appeal, the lithe superstar, who died of a fentanyl overdose aged 57 in April 2016, is dressed in a signature flamboyant outfit, looking almost like a matador, wearing a pendant made up of the female and male gender symbols.
Models Lily-Rose Depp, Lara Stone, Alek Wek and Cara Taylor feature on four different covers of the new CR Fashion Book. Like Prince, each fashion star has a connection to 1999; it was the year Depp was born and Stone entered the Elite Model Look competition, while Wek was breaking boundaries and Taylor epitomises “the stripped-down mood of late '90s”.
“To me,1999 was the last moment when fashion felt naïve and innocent and free," Roitfeld told Billboard. "1999 is about a spirit of independence, and there are very few independent thinkers left today. I think right now a lot of people are looking back to this period of time, not only to find references or get ideas, but to see who they were - how good they were - and hopefully see who they can be again.”
