FASHION FINDS FAITH

SOME PEOPLE CALL FASHION THEIR RELIGION. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN FASHION AND RELIGION MIX? RELIGIOUS REFERENCES IN FASHION COLLECTIONS HAVE BROUGHT ENDLESS CONTROVERSY, FROM JOHN GALLIANO USING JESUS CHRIST AS A DIRECT INSPIRATION FOR HIS SPRING/SUMMER 2001 COLLECTION TO RICCARDO TISCI’S HEAVILY RELIGIOUS AUTUMN/WINTER 2010 LINEUP. HAS THE LINE BETWEEN WHAT IS ACCEPTABLE AND WHAT ISN’T ALREADY BEEN CROSSED, OR ARE WE SEEING A NEW LEVEL OF BLASPHEMY IN FASHION?

Since his appointment as Givenchy creative director in 2005, religion has been the driving force behind some of Riccardo Tisci’s best work. However, Tisci never delivered religion more blatantly than in his autumn/winter 2010 collection. “Religion is a big part of my DNA and this collection was about my Catholicism and every other religion in a way,” Tisci said about the collection. He believes the clothes of devout men such as the frocks of priests, robes of monks and suits of rabbis, represent “the most chic way, the most pure way of dressing.”

One of my favourite pieces from the collection, that brought everything together, was the golden crown-of-thorns necklaces referencing the Christ’s final moments. Ann Demeulemeester showed similar designs with her black leather thorn necklace and bracelet.

Jewelry is an easy way for designers to infuse religious symbolism into a collection. Antichrist jewelry has become a 2010 staple with necklaces, earrings and rings all sporting the apparent blasphemous symbol. Forever 21’s inverted cross connector ring, which has been seen sported by celebrities such as Kristen Stewart and fashion blogger Rumi Neely at Fashiontoast, originally cost $5 and is now fetching prices of $70 for desperate eBayers.

Even though religious references have now reached the high-street, Tisci isn’t leaving his religious influences behind: his spring/summer 2011 menswear show had a 19^th century Victorian slant. “In a sense it’s my usual obsessions, religion and sexuality, but with a big Victorian moment, which I found pretty religious too,” Tisci said backstage post-show.

Many designers take their influences from Christian or Catholic roots. Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, for instance, have been using Catholic references for years.

Jean-Paul Gaultier has used Jewish life as a source of inspiration. The Orthodox Jewish community was far from pleased when Gaultier dressed models, including Naomi Campbell, as Hasidic Yeshiva students for his autumn/winter 1993 collection. However, many Jewish buyers, journalists and customers embraced the collection and its tribute to traditional Jewish aesthetics. “As a Jewish-American princess, I wasn’t offended at all. I just cut through all that Judaic stuff and looked at the clothes. Underneath that was a very commercial collection” explained Ellin Salzman, fashion director of high-end US department store Bergdorf Goodman to the New York Times.

Givenchy Spring/Summer 2011

A year later, Karl Lagerfeld embroidered phrases from the Koran in grey pearls on a black bustier worn by Claudia Schiffer for a Chanel 1994 collection. At the time, the Kaiser denied that the sentence “they are the ones who found guidance” had been lifted from the Koran, arguing he found it in an Indian poem. After complaints from Indonesian Muslim groups, Lagerfeld apologised to the Muslim community. All the controversial dresses along with all catwalk photos and even the photo negatives were destroyed.

The incestuous relationship between fashion and religion isn’t limited to the catwalks. The fashion in Lady Gaga’s latest video for Alejandro has caused quite a stir because of the blasphemous nature of its imagery. Steven Klein, a well-established fashion photographer who has worked with the like of  Calvin Klein, Alexander McQueen and Madonna, directed the video. Gaga is shown wearing a red latex nun outfit with inverted crosses. The cross is a symbol of the Christian faith as it represents Jesus Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection. In Christianity, the inverted cross is known as the ‘Cross of St. Peter’, in honor of Simon Peter who requested to be crucified upside down because he felt unworthy to be put to death in the same matter as Christ.

Many interpretations have been made of Gaga’s latest video, from suggestions it is highlighting gay repression in the Catholic community to some calling it a tribute to Madonna. Madonna recently bared all in a photoshoot for Interview magazine which used religion to create controversy.

Words Russell Arkinstall

Related Websites

• Warmer Weather In my neck of the woods its been a glorious day, sun shining and warm. Work has been going on...
• Why Do Girls Love Shopping? Girls absolutely love fashion and dressing themselves up. This is one of their favorite activities and they will spend hours...
• Watch Out for The God Squad in ALL their Forms! Free Kareem Amer I've just added a neat plugin to this website by the noted author, Michael Torbert.  His plugins...