In yesterday's post I briefly looked at the inspirations that sacred objects such as reliquaries can offer to fashion designers. Let’s look today at specific religious symbols and at the ways they can inspire designers.
To do it, let's move to St Peter's Basilica in Rome (for further explorations of themes connected to St Peter's Basilica, read the posts about the uniforms of the Swiss Guards and the reinterpretation some designers offered of the Roman cassock) and explore the potential of the symbol appearing on the yellow and white flag of Vatican City, the two Crossed Keys.
The keys, one gold and one silver bound with a red cord, represent the insignia of the papacy, the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven and the power to bind and loose on Earth and in Heaven.
Keys often reappeared in fashion collections, but it was Elsa Schiaparelli who (after imitating a cardinal's attire in a padded pelerine cape) borrowed the Vatican symbol and used it in her collection inspired by Heaven, embroidering Saint Peter’s keys on an evening suit as early as 1939. Think you can do better than Schiap? Well, get down to work and create your own design by playing around with the key theme.
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