Leader of the world’s 1.1 billion Catholics – and a fashiontrendsetter.
Yesterday, it was a spiffy, double-breasted, full-length white coat with peaked la pels for papal fashion plate Pope Benedict XVI.
Other favorite duds for the pontiff have included a snow-white, ermine-trimmed shoulder cape, a sky-high, gold-embossedmiter, Gucci sunglasses and bright-red, designer leather loafers.
Papal couture has been all the buzz since Benedict took up residence at the Vatican.
In stark contrast to another recent religious visitor – the off-the-shoulder-robe- wearing Dalai Lama – Benedict appears to favor a lot of zing and bling.
But others insist that when it comes to papal wear, everything old – specifically 15th and 16th century – is new again.
According to one report, Roman retailers of clerical garb note that taller hats, or miters, red velvet capes, known as mozzettas, rich white fur or lace trim and richly embroidered smocks, or chasubles, are the pontiff’s style of choice.
“When he’s wearing some specific vestments, a bishop might say, ‘Oh, I saw him wearing that the other day, can you make it?’ He’s a trendsetter, you could say that,” Maria Ardovini, manager of a shop on Rome’s Via dei Cestari, told The Washington Post.
And his flock is fine with it.
“I like the inclusion of the older, traditionally fabricated vestments, the highly embellished miters from previous popes and the use of the throne of Leo XIII,” one blogger wrote.
According to Annibale Gammarelli, who runs Rome’s Gammarelli tailor shop that has been outfitting popes since 1792, Benedict has been bringing back Medieval and Renaissance papal attire.
But even the designs are somewhat a mystery. Benedict reportedly has given the papal boot to Gammarelli in favor of Raniero Mancinelli, whom he used back when he was Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger.
His footwear has sparked near-running commentary – Are they or aren’t they Prada, pundits ask of his loafers.
The Wall Street Journal reported Italian shoe company Geox SpA, whose founder, Mario Moretti Polegato, is a friend of papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls, gave Navarro-Valls several pairs of Geox Uomo Light loafers – featuring the brand’s trademark anti-sweat system – as a present for the new pope.
When the pope wore the shoes, Geox chose not to promote it. But the company was delighted when word got out, the Journal reported.
“If the pope uses our product, that means it works. He’s out in public under the sun for hours in a heavy tunic, so he risks becoming sweaty,” said Geox spokesman Eros Scattolin.