Deconstructing the Dolce and Gabbana, Givenchy, and Gaultier “religious” collections: Offensive or an expression of faith?
Dolce and Gabbana
Italian fashion house created in 1985 by Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. In many of their previous collection Dolce and Gabbana have shown a strong Italian influence. However, in their Fall 2013 collection, religious figures had a strong emphasis. Crowns, rosaries, crosses, and prints with religious passages inspired on Byzantine art are seen all over this collection. Besides these religious elements, the proportions of the clothes and the respectful placement of the religious icons, provides a collection that reflects a collection that allure religion in a reverential way, avoiding the blasphemy or these religious symbols.
Inspiration
The inspiration of this collection comes from the Byzantine Christian art (1). This type of art is denominated after the type the period in which it existed. “In 330 A.D., the first Christian ruler of the Roman empire, Constantine the Great, transferred the ancient imperial capital from Rome to the city of Byzantine located on the easternmost territory of the European continent, at a major intersection of east-west trade (2)”. Constantine the Great renamed the city after him, Constantinople, it what is now part of Istanbul in Turkey. During this period, art flourished and was extended beyond the Roman Empire. The art was predominately Christian iconography with strong Muslim and Jewish influences (3). “The medium of the miniature mosaic icon enjoyed particular popularity during the Late Byzantine centuries, with their brilliant surfaces and illusion of luxury formed from more modest materials such as coloured stone, semiprecious gems, and glass embedded in wax or resin on a wooden support. (4)” This medium is seen across the majority of the Dolce and Gabbana collection along with rosaries and crowns from the same time period, explained bellow:
Deconstructing the Elements
The cross
Bronze crosses are among the most common elements in byzantine art(5), during this period the usage of this religious symbol was normal among the cleric and general population. “In the Byzantine world the cross was everywhere, and its form was a myrad: doorways, erected in churches, embodied in clothing, cloaked in jewels, and leading armies, it was the ubiquitous sign that traversed person, community and religion(6).” Crosses formed part of the general life, and adding them into the garments should not be seen as a misrepresentation from the time period in which the designers were inspired by, in fact it provides the collection an accurate representation of the time.
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Ancient Byzantine Cross
MET Museum
Crowns
Among many western cultures, crowns are a symbol of royalty, of being part of the direct link between god and the mortals. Crowns in the Byzantine periods are characterised by the portraits and figures in crowns. “Presumably, these portraits were meant to express divine authority and empower the wearer with the virtues of those portrayed(8)”. The Byzantine period is unique, and the usual veil, shown in many religious figures is uncommon. “Of course, the modesty and simplicity that is usually associated with covered hair is essentially absent in the early Byzantine period(9)”. Other religions also influenced theses crowns. “The arches on the crowns often contained portrait roundels of the Buddha are much like the roundel portraits of saints and emperors found in extant Byzantine crowns such as the crowns of Leo VI and St Stephen”. This demonstrates the melting pot that Constantinople represented, as a hub for the encounter of different cultures and religions.
Purse, mid-18th century, French, Embroidered linen with metal purl, silver and gold thread and coloured, plain woven silkCopyright Victoria and Albert Museum, London, acc. no. T.44-1970
Textiles
Just like in the collection, back in the Byzantine period bright metal embroidery of the clothes were common among the ecclesiastic classes. “Gold threads, like silk, are luxury materials engaged in the manufacture of the finest and most expensive fabrics in Byzantine-Greek metal threads. Metal threads were commonly used for the decoration of Greek Orthodox ecclesiastical textiles between the 13th and the 19th centuries(7)”. Nowadays in order to achieve bright metallic-like fabrics is not necessary to weave metals. Dolce and Gabbana included this element in the collection providing their shoppers with the privilege that only the ones “closest” to god could have during the Byzantine period.
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Ancient Byzantine Crown
source unknown