Why Prince is as relevant as ever to the fashion world

In all is fabulous, purpleness self

prince fashion
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In all is fabulous, purpleness self

It has been over a year since Prince died at the age of 57, but his style is still as influential as ever, so much so that Pantone have created a new colour in his honour of him and his purpleness.

Named ‘Love Symbol #2’, the hue was inspired by the singer’s purple Yamaha piano, and references the love symbol he used during the time he was ‘the artist formerly known as Prince’.

pantone purple

In a statement, Prince’s estate entertainment adviser Troy Carter, said, ‘The color purple was synonymous with who Prince was and will always be. This is an incredible way for his legacy to live on forever.’

Call it coincidence or not, but violet shades are a big trend for autumn/winter 2017, having graced many a catwalk.

Bella Hadid wore metallic Cadbury wrapper-esqaue boots at Alexandre Vauthier recently, Lily Donaldson wore a neon purple silk dress at Redemption, and at Alberta Ferreti, models wore those weekday jumpers with lilac maxi skirts.

Far beyond the legacy of his favourite colour though, Prince will always be seen as a true icon (a term bandied about far too easily these days), who challenged gender and racial stereotypes with his sartorial choices, at a time when it wasn’t a done thing.

prince fashion

He proudly wore ruffled blouses, heels, skintight sequin trousers, and oversized suits, alongside lashings of kohl liner, simply because they showcased who he was.

As to why Prince picked the colour purple in the first place, it remains a but of a mystery, though he did once explain the meaning behind his song Purple Rain.

‘When there’s blood in the sky - red and blue = purple. Purple rain pertains to the end of the world and being with the one you love and letting your faith/god"guide you through the purple rain,’ he said.

Purple has also always been linked to royalty, and you know, he had a regal name, so…

Penny Goldstone

Penny Goldstone is the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, covering everything from catwalk trends to royal fashion and the latest high street and Instagram must-haves.

Penny grew up in France and studied languages and law at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris before moving to the UK for her MA in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She moved to the UK permanently and has never looked back (though she does go back regularly to stock up on cheese and wine).

Although she's always loved fashion - she used to create scrapbooks of her favourite trends and looks, including Sienna Miller and Kate Moss' boho phase - her first job was at MoneySavingExpert.com, sourcing the best deals for everything from restaurants to designer sales.

However she quit after two years to follow her true passion, fashion journalism, and after many years of internships and freelance stints at magazines including Red, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Good Housekeeping, landed her dream job as the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK.

Her favourite part of the job is discovering new brands and meeting designers, and travelling the world to attend events and fashion shows. Seeing her first Chanel runway IRL at Paris Fashion Week was a true pinch-me moment.