Religion & Fashion

A few months ago I bought a silver cross bracelet. I’m not sure what really inclined me to—the chique pictures on Tumblr or a deep, hibernating feeling of Christianity. Actually, I think the primary reason was that I thought it was pretty, just like anything else I buy. Little did I know that there are thousands of years of history that belong to that bracelet. No, it isn’t some legendary, magical amethyst that will lock up the spirit of evil or something that belongs in a Harry Potter book. It’s more complex than that. In the slim little bracelet lies the crucifixion of Jesus, bloody battles between Christianity and Judaism and the concept that religion is everywhere, even on your wrist.“You’ve got to know the rules to break them,” Alexander McQueen once said. The designer had an infatuation with the Dark Ages, which inspired many of his designs. In his Fall/Winter 2010 collection, he used fabric that displayed high church angels and Bosch demons into hand-loomed jacquard, reflecting a very medieval and dark style. He expressed Christian figures such as Madonnas and Byzantine empresses.Alexander McQueen’s Creative Director, Sarah Burton, said he was looking at the art of the Dark Ages, but finding light and beauty in it.Another passionate designer, Jean Paul Gaultier, held religion as his muse. In his Spring 2007 collection, models paced the runways in Virgin Mary-inspired attire, draped in halos, dark lace and crosses. In the late ‘80s, he stylized Madonna in similar clothing. The singer is known for her rebellious, edgy style and much of that came from Gaultier’s vision of bringing fashion to pop culture.Catholicism in particular takes a major stance on the runway. Riccardo Tisci designed Givenchy’s fall 2010 collection around Catholicism, influenced by his personal roots. Aside from the golden crowns of thorns, bold T-shirts reading “Jesus is Lord” made the message clear.We don’t only see religion as fashion on the runway though. We see it on a daily basis draped around necks, clipped around wrists and bound around fingers. Jewelry is the most common way we expose our religious beliefs. Crosses are not the only religious symbols that are frequently brought into fashion. The Hamsa, or Hand of Fatima, is the palm-shaped pendant valued in Middle Eastern and North African cultures, however universally aesthetically popular. It is believed to protect against the “evil eye.” This evil eye represents envy and bud-luck and inflicts bad-luck. Ironically, the evil eye is as common a fashion statement as the Hamsa.Freedom of self-expression goes hand in hand with both fashion and religion. This is why when the two intermix, an even more controversial category is born. Aside from its physical religious influence, fashion has reached the point where it’s a religion itself. Rather than believing in the many complex and variegated viewpoints that fill the world, some may chose to believe in the simple and personal value of self-expression and self-identification. Isn’t that what we are all about after all?abiraben@thesamohi.com