Take Me to Church: 21 Times Designers Put on Shows in Holy Places

Laird Borrelli-Persson
Updated

Take Me to Church: 21 Times Designers Put on Shows in Holy Places

St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery, New York Linder Fall 2018
L’Église Saint-Merri, Paris Yang Li Fall 2018
St. George’s Bloomsbury, London David Koma Fall 2018
L’Église Saint-Merri, Paris Koché Spring 2018
St. Sepulchre-Without-Newgate, London Ryan Lo Spring 2018
The Church of Our Lady of the Scapular-St. Stephen, New York Joseph Abboud Fall 2017
Danish Church of Saint Katharine’s, London Alexa Chung Pre-Fall 2017
Westminster Abbey, London Gucci Resort 2017
Southwark Cathedral, London Simone Rocha Spring 2017
St. Cyprian’s Clarence Gate, London Sharon Wauchob Spring 2017
St. Andrew Holborn, London Huishan Zhang Spring 2017
Christ Church Spitalfields, London Mother of Pearl Spring 2017
The Chapel of St. Barnabas, London Sophia Webster Fall 2016
The Chapel of St. Barnabas, London
Sophia Webster Fall 2016
Photo: Getty Images
St. Andrew Holborn, London PPQ Fall 2016
St. Andrew Holborn, London
PPQ Fall 2016
Photo: Getty Images
The Welsh Chapel, London Alexander McQueen Fall 2014
St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery, New York Chloë Sevigny for Opening Ceremony Fall 2013
The Crypt, St. Paul’s Cathedral, London Hackett London Fall 2013
The Crypt, St. Paul’s Cathedral, London
Hackett London Fall 2013
Photo: Getty Images
Christ Church Spitalfields, London Richard Nicoll Fall 2008
Third Church of Christ, Scientist, New York Oscar de la Renta Resort 2008
St. Mary Magdalene’s Church, London Frost French Fall 2005
St. Mary Magdalene’s Church, London
Frost French Fall 2005
Photo: Getty Images
Alexander McQueen Fall 1996

The apotheosis of a designer’s expression is the fashion show. This piece of performance art, usually lasting no more than 15 minutes, offers a glimpse into the mind of the creator, and every detail counts, from the invitations to the hair and makeup to, of course, the venue.

In recent years, the fashion flock has crisscrossed the globe to attend shows in ever more unusual venues, including Chanel’s takeover of Havana to Pierre Cardin’s Bubble Palace on the Côte d’Azur. These locales help to “place” brands. If Vetements’s decision to present its Fall 2015 collection in the basement of Le Depot, a gay club in Paris, underlined its outsider status, what message does showing in a church or other place of worship send?

There is no single answer, but protest, not piety, seems to be a recurring theme—whether or not the venue is deconsecrated. Alexander McQueen, fashion’s incorrigible enfant terrible, presented his Dante collection in London at Christ Church Spitalfields; its encore in New York was at the Angel Orensanz Center, a former synagogue. At both, models wore crucifix-adorned masks that nodded to the dark universe of Joel-Peter Witkin and brocades that seemed to reference ecclesiastic garments. Years later, Alexander Wang would stir the pot when he presented a weed-themed collection (complete with sweaters that read Holy Smoke) at St. Bart’s in New York. In between, Chloë Sevigny presented her Fall 2013 lineup for Opening Ceremony at the art-friendly St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery. She borrowed the placards and posturing of protests to advocate for women’s rights, which have been late to be acknowledged in many religions.

For a bride, the aisle is a runway; a church setting can add pomp and circumstance to a fashion presentation. The effect is magnified, of course, when the venue is an exclusive one, like Westminster Abbey’s Cloisters, which Gucci secured to present its Anglophilic Resort 2017 collection. The theme allowed designer Alessandro Michele to indulge in a “gothic sea of inspiration.” Christelle Kocher’s much-lauded soccer-themed Spring 2018 collection was message driven. Acceptance was Kocher’s mantra, and it was underscored by the setting: L’Église Saint-Merri, a church that welcomes congregants of different faiths and supports gay marriage. Amen to that.

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