Lenny Kravitz

Career & style

Lenny Kravitz released Let Love Rule in 1989, bringing together rock, soul, funk and other musical references. Songs such as Are You Gonna Go My Way and Fly Away established different points in a long recording and touring career. His performance image is best considered alongside this mixture of sounds rather than assigned to a single decade.

The live photographs provide a practical way to examine rock stagewear. Notice the relationship between a guitar strap, an open neckline, the cut of trousers and the performer’s stance. These details determine how the clothes operate while playing an instrument, not just how they look in a stationary portrait. Reading function together with decoration makes a more useful style study than a list of accessories detached from the performance.