Prince’s costume designers release new collection inspired by The Kid himself

The designers behind many of the legendary costumes that made Prince a fashion icon, have kicked off 2020 by releasing a fashion line inspired by His Royal Badness.

According to The New York Post, designers Cathy Robinson and Lori Marcuz, of the Toronto-based company Call & Response, worked with the late rock icon from 2011 until his death in 2016. Now they are paying homage to their longtime muse by releasing a collection inspired by his album “1999.”

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The Prince estate not only has no problem with this launch but has even teamed up with the duo as they launch vests, made-to-order jackets, “hand-dyed tunics” and vests. And the collections availability intentionally coincides with the release of Prince’s Super Deluxe Edition “1999” box set, which came out last year.

But fans may be surprised to learn that Robinson and Marcuz, never met or spoke to the legendary artist, despite years of dressing him.

During a 2018 interview with Vogue, Marcuz shared how Prince’s assistant would routinely call and request clothing, and then have them send a box with the items. Then the designers would watch YouTube videos to get the correct fit for his clothing.

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“We watched a lot of footage,” Marcuz explains. “We listened to the album, again and again, trying to remember what it was like to hear ‘1999’ for the first time back in the day.”

Not surprisingly, this latest collection will include a lot of purple.

“The entire time, [working with Prince], was almost like a blur,” Robinson told Refinery29. “It was so busy and fast. We learned so much working with him because the learning curve was huge.”

“Our time with Prince was a hell of a ride,” Marcuz wrote on Instagram. “We miss him. We miss making clothes for him. So this was, in many ways, lovely to do it again.”

READ MORE: Rare Prince album, ‘The Versace Experience’ gets reissued

View this post on Instagram

Honoured and excited to create this special capsule collection for The Prince Estate ? Thank you! #Repost @prince ・・・ Following the highly anticipated Super Deluxe reissue of #Prince1999, The Prince Estate has commissioned the Toronto design duo Call & Response to create an evocative, hand-crafted collection of custom jackets, vests and hand-dyed tunics exclusively for Prince’s fans. • Starting in the early 2010s, as Prince’s music morphed into a rawer, more rock-oriented blues sound, he started wearing an evolving collection of textured, distressed jackets that resembled the ’60s wardrobes of Jimi Hendrix and Sly and the Family Stone. • Though the public didn’t know it at the time, these striking jackets were a signature creation of @callandresponseclothing, who outfitted Prince in countless pieces from 2011-2016 — from his incendiary HITNRUN shows with 3RDEYEGIRL to the #GRAMMYS, @fallontonight and @nbcsnl. • • “It was like being in the middle of a creative maelstrom,” remembers Cathy Robinson, who runs Call & Response with fellow designer Lori Marcuz. “There were no mood boards, no story lines, just raw visceral design.” • With all of the excitement surrounding the expanded reissue of 1999, Cathy and Lori were honored to continue to create new pieces based on their profound creative connection to Prince and their appreciation of his 1999 era. • The pieces evoke some of Prince’s trademark fashion elements from the era—including his famous shiny, studded purple trench coat—but are updated with Call & Response’s attention to textured fabrics, overlays, and detail. • See the full line of Call & Response’s 1999 designs here: store.prince.com

A post shared by Call and Response (@callandresponseclothing) on Dec 3, 2019 at 12:38pm PST