At 75 years of age, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac has had an extraordinary career as a fashion designer. While his creations have been worn by pop stars such as Lady Gaga, unusually for a well-known stylist he has also clothed leading figures in the Catholic Church.
The devout Catholic is known for his particularly colorful creations — a signature style that lent itself well to the liturgical vestments he designed for Pope John Paul II during World Youth Day that was held in Paris in 1997.
And now de Castelbajac is using his talent, and faith, to design the multiple vestments that will be worn by hundreds of the clergy at the opening of Notre Dame, including Archbishop Laurent Ulrich.
As reported by Cath Ch, de Castelbajac explained how he felt when hearing about the Notre Dame fire, stating how he and his wife were the other side of Paris, walking and crying at the same time, believing the fire to be a “terrible sign.”
However, just a few years later, he is playing a key role in showing symbolically how the Church has risen from the flames, with his colorful vestments bearing the golden cross almost being brought to life.
The symbolism behind the designs
The designer shared the following thoughts about his labor of love in his Instagram post:
It’s an honor and a great thrill to be able once again to put my experience and my art at the service of the Church, and to participate in the radiance of Notre-Dame de Paris for the reopening ceremonies. Light and its radiance guided my creative gesture, and I thought of Couturier’s glorious cross [the large golden cross sculpted by Marc Couturier in 1994 that famously escaped the 2019 fire], and the radiance of color on Notre-Dame’s reborn blonde stone. My work focused on chromatic rhythm and the power of gold. Echoing the stained-glass windows, color is omnipresent on the white chasubles, around the golden cross. “
Although it might seem a simple design at first, there is so much thought that has gone into the creation of these multiple vestments. Interestingly, at a seminar held at the Sorbonne University last week, the usually left-handed de Casteljabac shared with the audience how he decided to use his “weaker” hand to draw the pattern of the design to avoid it looking “overly polished,” explaining how he wanted to “transcribe the intelligence of the hand.”
These minor irregularities can be seen in a myriad of tiny details, including the design of the Chi Rho clasp used for the Bishop’s cope. This is something he also shared in a post below that can be found on his Instagram account.
A sign of faith
In the post he explained how there were five workshops involved in helping him bring his creations to life. At the workshop featured in his post — where the clasps were being made — he signed his name between two other famous faces in the fashion industry: Karl Lagerfeld and Pharrell Williams.
However, de Castelbajac notably placed his name inside a dove with a Chi Rho in its beak — a gesture that shows the fashion world how faith can still play a significant role in its field, and maybe people might be more willing to showcase theirs!
