If one were to ask Stanislas Klossowski de Rola to draw up a list of his most valuable skills, timing would undoubtedly claim the top spot. The son of renowned Polish French modern artist Balthus—who claimed to descend from Poland ’s medieval nobility, hence the title—the now 82-year-old has enjoyed a charmed but convention-defying trajectory: being discovered by Luchino Visconti and whisked off to the Cannes Film Festival with Fellini as a teen, getting busted with Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones in his 20s, and providing creative fuel for Gucci in his 70s, when he was cast in one of the brand’s fragrance commercials. Lately, Prince Stash, as he’s known to his legions of followers on TikTok and Instagram , has become a social-media darling (an unlikely position for a dread-locked, technology-averse octogenarian).
But whether he’s opening the rooms of his 1,200-year-old Tuscan castle or telling stories about dropping acid with Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett, he flies the flag for individuality with every post. And given the flattening sameness of luxury, perhaps the former bad boy once linked to Nico, Anita Pallenberg, and Marianne Faithfull is the harpsichord-playing bohemian éminence grise we didn’t know we needed. What’s the first thing you do in the morning? Usually I’m up very early, especially in summer in this house, because it can be extremely hot.
You have to bounce out of bed, rush and close maybe 20-odd windows that face the rising sun. It’s ab.