40 Vatican bishops walk onto a Dolce & Gabbana runway, and no, this isn’t the set-up for a punchline. On July 14, the Italian luxury fashion house staged its Alta Sartoria 2025 show, turning Rome’s Ponte Sant’Angelo, a historic bridge overlooking the Tiber River, into a site of religious pageantry. The bishops, all donning sunglasses and red ceremonial robes, took their places along the bridge and stood guard as models walked in outfits inspired by opulent Catholic vestments.
Designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana’s latest collection continues their signature homage to Catholicism, with designs rooted in traditional church garments. Outfits on this runway included double-breasted suits featuring bejeweled crosses, sheer white tunics embroidered with ecclesiastical motifs, and luxurious floor-length capes evoking the grand regalia of Catholic popes.
Church officials in attendance praised the show for its respectful treatment of Catholic visual traditions. “‘You are on the razor,’ as we say in Italian,” Don Alberto Rocca, Dolce’s priest and regular attendee at the fashion house’s shows, said in an interview with Greek Reporter. “What I like is that it’s not mocking, it’s about the spirit. More often than not, you see people using religious symbols in order to deprive them of their symbolism, but that’s not the case with [Dolce & Gabbana]. Otherwise, I would not be here.”
Heavenly Bodies
Dolce & Gabbana has long drawn inspiration from sacred Catholic imagery for their fashion collections. For their Fall ‘13 collection, the designers drew heavily from the Venetian and Byzantine mosaics of the Cathedral of Monreale, incorporating elements like rosaries and images of the Madonna and Child into their designs. In 2022, the fashion house presented Alta Moda 2022, a show which also featured religious motifs such as cherubs and crucifixes.
But the works of Dolce & Gabbana are not the only example of fashion engaging with religious iconography. Cristóbal Balenciaga, the Spanish designer who founded the Balenciaga brand, famously introduced a striking nun-like hood in 1967 as part of his futuristic bridal ensemble. The habit has since been revived several times by the brand’s later designers for new collections.
Chinese couturier Guo Pei also drew from religious themes for her Spring 2017 collection, taking inspiration from cathedrals and reliquaries. Dramatic miter-shaped crowns, elaborate crucifixes, and intricate Byzantine-inspired embroidery adorned her runway, transforming sacred motifs into theatrical, couture looks.
Given that the Philippines is a predominantly Catholic country, many Filipino designers have also drawn inspiration from the faith in their work. Joey Samson primarily attributes his Catholic upbringing to the creation of his signature “bookleaf gown,” a regal piña ensemble that subtly mimics the vestments worn by Catholic priests.
Artist and designer Michelline Syjuco has also incorporated crucifixes, serpents, crowns, and wings in her gown designs, playing with gold finishings reminiscent of the altars of Catholic churches. Representing the Philippines at the 2016 Paris Design Week, Syjuco showcased a sculpted armor dress inspired by the chain mail attire worn by knights of faith during the Crusades.
This fascination with religious imagery reached an even wider global audience at the 2018 Met Gala, which featured the theme Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination. Celebrity guests embraced the theme with grandiosity. Rihanna sported a bedazzled papal-inspired robe by Maison Margiela, complete with an equally bedazzled bishop’s hat by Stephen Jones millinery. Cardi B strutted out in a custom Moschino outfit, accessorizing her rich, jewelled gown with a halo headpiece. And Madonna, who has built a career on blending pop culture with religious symbolism, appeared in a dark Jean Paul Gaultier gown adorned with chains of rosaries and a crown of crucifixes.
