Jean-Charles de Castelbajac to Dress Clergy for Notre-Dame Reopening
RAY OF LIGHT: Jean-Charles de Castelbajac has been chosen to create the clerical outfits for the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral this December.
He was selected by Monseigneur Laurent Ulrich, the Archbishop of Paris, to create the ceremonial garb thanks to a longstanding association with the Catholic Church.
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In 1997, he created rainbow-bedecked outfits for 500 bishops, 5,000 priests and a million young people attending the Church’s World Youth Day celebration in Paris, from T-shirts to the chasuble worn by Pope John Paul II. It was the first time an artist or fashion designer had collaborated with the Vatican. “The Pope said to me the next day, ‘You used color as the cement of faith,'” de Castelbajac reminisced over the phone to WWD.
John Paul II bequeathed that vestment to Notre-Dame, and it escaped unharmed by the flames that destroyed much of the landmark in 2019. “It has become a relic,” said de Castelbajac, who like many Parisians in situ and francophiles the world over watched the inferno ravage the building that evening of April 15. “We all saw the cathedral go up in flames with horror,” de Castelbajac said. “It’s a symbol of France that we are incredibly attached to. Notre-Dame is the mothership of the church in France.”
For its reopening ceremonies in December, he was appointed to join l’Atelier Notre-Dame, a group of artists and craftspeople selected by the Diocese of Paris to work on its restoration.
He has designed 2,000 chasubles, dalmatics (a liturgical tunic) and stoles to be worn by 700 bishops, priests and deacons for three days of reopening celebrations starting Dec. 7 through to Whit Sunday next June. They will subsequently be worn for important occasions on the Christian calendar, and each parish of Paris will be entrusted with a chasuble.
In agreement with the Church, the inspiration for the designs was the edifice itself, from the light that plays on its white stonework to the blue, yellow, red and green hues of its stained-glass windows and the giant golden cross by Marc Couturier that survived the fire, seen by believers as a symbol of hope.
“I was inspired by the radiation of the cross,” he explained. “The Rector of Notre-Dame de Paris, Monseigneur Ribadeau Dumas, was very attached to the idea of something pure, something simple, and that was also my approach,” he said. The “Christogram” symbol, which adorned Emperor Constantine’s flags as he went into battle, also features in the designs.
Currently in the prototype stage, the garments will be made using contemporary technologies and fabrics including a sweatshirt-like flocked material, he said. “I wanted the designs to speak to a young generation, with elements of streetwear.”
For de Castelbajac, a lover of semiotics who has dedicated much of his work to art and cultural initiatives in recent years, his latest project is an important symbol. “It’s very touching to participate in the creation of something that will never be sold, there is no commercial or marketing dimension to it, it’s a spiritual gesture, something that will be transmitted to future generations,” he said. “It’s like a beacon of light in an era when we feel it’s difficult to see the way forward.”
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