Between the 2024 film Conclave, the Jubilee year, the death of Pope Francis and the election of Pope Leo—The Catholic Church has regularly featured in mainstream media over the last 12 months. Catholicism continues to capture popular imagination, including in the world of high-end luxury fashion Italian fashion label, Dolce & Gabbana.
It premiered its latest couture collection in July, titled Alta Sartoria (“High Tailoring” or “Haute Couture”). The collection was inspired by the history of the Catholic Church and of Rome itself.
Through dramatic silhouettes, rich colours, exquisite embroidery, the large jewel-studded crosses a full display of Catholic opulence sprung to life on Ponte Sant’Angelo, the bridge over the Tiber leading to Rome’s magnificent Castel Sant’Angelo.
The bridge was transformed into an open-air runway for the occasion. Built between 135 and 139AD, originally as a mausoleum for the Roman Emperor Hadrian, and later used as a papal fortress, the castle and its bridge symbolically link the sacred and the profane—much like the fashion show itself.
As magnificent and otherworldly as these one-of-a-kind pieces were, D&G still managed to incorporate fashion-forward trends such as wide-leg trousers, long coats, and double-breasted blazers with pronounced lapels.
In addition to the striking clerical inspired collection, there was also a procession of “cardinals” and “altar servers” at the start of the show. There have been differing reports on this procession, with some saying that these were real bishops from the Vatican.
However, other sources reported the red-robed “bishops” were actually extras from the legendary film studio Cinecittà.
GreekReporter wrote that Don Alberto Rocca, a priest and friend of Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, attended another Catholic-inspired show in 2022.
He said that: “You are on the razor, as we say in Italian, but 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 D&G; otherwise, I would not be here.”
Pop stars such as Madonna, Lady Gaga, Lil Nas X, and Sabrina Carpenter have all used Catholic imagery, rituals, and venues to openly mock or degrade the faith. It’s not hard to see why Don Alberto Rocca might view D&G’s much more positive portrayal of Catholic aesthetics as refreshing, inspiring, and as something which highlights the beauty and profound mystery of this ancient institution.
Unlike him, though, almost every Catholic I have spoken to has been appalled by the video clips posted online of the show, an observation confirmed by Catholic News Agency’s Hannah Brockhaus who canvassed reactions from the faithful in response to the performance.
The main objection stems from the discomfort they feel about the blending of the sacred and commercial. The use of religious vestments appearing in couture shows—events which costs millions of euros to produce—raises understandable concerns. People don’t feel right about someone, even respected artisans, seemingly using the church to sell lace-trimmed shirts.
Yet it would be hard to prosecute the case that the church has nothing in common with luxury, especially as it pertains to vestments, clothing and aesthetics.
The 2025 D&G show is clearly heavily influenced by clerical garb from the Renaissance and Baroque eras—periods of the Church which are hardly synonymous with temperance or humility.
Powerful families like the Medicis—the gangsters and bankers of that era—financed and influenced the institution during the late 15th to early 16th centuries.
It is no coincidence that some of the most remarkable architecture, sculptures and paintings were produced at that time. It is worth considering if the church would have ever been able to bankroll such treasures had they not accepted the donations of the wealthy elite, despite being morally compromised.
The Sistine Chapel wasn’t painted with a theological, spur-of-the-moment inspiration, completed with only good will and the satisfaction of a job well done. Sacred art has always required funding, and you have to be intentionally naïve to pretend that these sponsors do not at some level have vested commercial or political interests.
That’s not to say that as a result of these multilayered motivations, the sacred art loses its reverence and capacity to inspire awe and a closeness to God.
Yes, the idea of sacred imagery entering commercial spaces like fashion shows might make you uncomfortable, but this might just be the true cost of preserving theological ideals through art.
A commercially-driven fashion show which respectfully pays homage to the Catholic Church should be seen as a recognition of beauty, not an endorsement of consumerism.
Decadence, religious authority, and political power have a tightly woven and deeply complicated relationship—but if modern elites don’t fund art, even imperfectly—who will? And if sacred art has always required flawed artists, can we afford to reject beauty when it appears, even in the most unexpected places?
