Chapter 10 Religion Reprocessed in Dolce & Gabbana’s ‘Tailored Mosaic’

Lynn S. Neal

1 Introduction

Dolce and Gabbana’s ‘Tailored Mosaic’ line debuted on the runway in Milan in February 2013. Models wore crowns and large cross earrings as they sported intricate pieces made from beautiful lace and rich tweeds, most of which im- pressed devotees and critics alike. But it was the garments adorned with mosaic details inspired by Sicilian cathedrals that stole the show – minis featuring painstaking embroidery, simple separates printed with mosaic im- ages and elaborately beaded knee-length dresses. According to one blogger, these items showcased ‘an artistry that recalls that of the mosaicists them- selves’, while another simply called the collection a ‘beautiful sin’.1 The impres- sive craftsmanship exhibited in these garments rightfully garnered praise, but the religious subject matter proved to be a more provocative topic. Some called it a ‘romanticized’ view of the Catholic Church,2 others described the collec- tion as ‘iconographic’3 (and elaborated on the role of icons in both religion and fashion), while still others wondered about the appropriateness of putting ‘holy figures’ on one’s clothing.4 In 2013, numerous designers in addition to Dolce and Gabbana tackled reli- gious, and more specifically Christian, subject matter, including Giles Deacon, Valentino, Givenchy, Karla Spetic and Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen.

1 Samantha Holmes, ‘Mosaic Inspiration from Dante to Lagerfeld’, Solo Mosaico.org, viewed on 6 February 2014, http://www.solo-mosaico.org/portfolio/mosaic-inspiration-from-dante -to-lagerfeld/; Alina Kulesh, ‘Dolce & Gabbana’s Beautiful Sin’, The Genteel.com, March 10, 2013, viewed on 1 October 2013, http://www.thegenteel.com/articles/design/dolce-gabbanas -beautiful-sin. 2 Nicole Phelps, ‘Fall 2013 Ready-To-Wear: Dolce and Gabbana’, Style.com, February 24, 2013, viewed on 6 February 2014, http://style.com/fashionshows/review/F2013RTW-DGABBANA. 3 Isabella Burley, ‘All About Icons’, DazedDigital.com, viewed on 6 February 2014, http://www .dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/15726/1/dolce-gabbana-aw13. 4 Anibundel, ‘Milan Fashion Week Fall 2013 rtw: Dolce and Gabbana’, Anibundel: Pop Cultures, 2 March 2013, viewed on 6 February 6, 2014, http://anibundel.wordpress.com/2013/03/02/ milan-fashion-week-fall-2013-rtw-dolce-and-gabbana/. Blog.

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Religion Reprocessed 229

Amidst sacerdotal-inspired garb and stained glass Jesus dresses, ‘Tailored Mosaic’ stood out and seemed to capture what British Vogue called the ‘Holy Spirit’ that infused 2013 .5 Countless fashion blogs curated pictures and chronicled details of the collection, wore it on the cover of Australian Vogue and Katy Perry rocked it on the red carpet. This favourable response raises numerous questions: What makes this collec- tion different? What is the relationship between religion and fashion? How did ‘Tailored Mosaic’ reprocess religion? Why did it capture the imagination of so many people and what does it tell us about fashion and conceptions of the sacred? These questions provide the structure for this chapter and il- luminate how the discourses of religion and fashion shape and inform one another.

2 Religion and Fashion Reconceptualised

Controversial, fraught and profane often characterize how people conceptual- ize the relationship between religion and fashion. The art critic Chloe Wyma, who remarked on the religious trend of 2013, concluded that ‘fashion has ­co-opted religion, irreverently declaring that nothing is sacred’, while blogger Anibundel came to a similar conclusion: ‘it seems odd to be going to a par- ty wearing a golden dress with the Christian lord and saviour front and cen- tre on your skirt, like it was the new 21st century vision of the poodle skirt’.6 Dr. Marian T. Horvat, president of Tradition in Action, a group dedicated ‘to defend[ing] the perennial Magisterium of Holy Mother Church and Catholic traditions’, criticizes many fashion designers who use religious, and specifi- cally Catholic, symbols. She found ‘Tailored Mosaic’ problematic and observed that ‘this profane use of religious symbols obviously has a deleterious effect on religion’.7 Repeatedly, people in both religious and fashion circles characterize the incorporation of religion in fashion as an act of profanation.

5 Stephanie Hirschmiller, ‘Holy Spirit’, British Vogue (October 2013): 239; Chloe Wyma, ‘Per- sonal Jesus: Is Fashion Finding its Religion?’, BlouinArtInfo.com, April 16, 2013, viewed on 1 October 2013, http://ca.blouinartinfo.com/print/node/891758. 6 Wyma, ‘Personal Jesus’; Anibundel, ‘Milan Fashion Week Fall 2013 rtw’. 7 Tradition in Action, viewed on 6 April 2015, http://www.traditioninaction.org; ‘Catholic Imag- ery in Today’s Fashions: Interview with Dr. Marian T. Horvat’, Tradition in Action, April 4, 2014, viewed on 6 April 2015, http://www.traditioninaction.org/Questions/D006Inter_Imagery .htm.