In the last few posts we looked at the themes of fashion and religion as they seem to have become rather trendy after the launch and the opening (today) of the "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and The Catholic Imagination" exhibition at the Met Museum's Costume Institute.
The exhibition also features Roberto Capucci's "Angel of Gold" gown, made from pleated gold lamé and ivory silk taffeta and featuring sculpted fabric wings wired to stand two feet away from the body. Yet Capucci also indirectly explored the theme of religion in four famous crêpe drap (a soft and slightly shiny wool-based fabric) designs that celebrated light and brightness and that were showcased in Paris in 1965. The designer switched off the lights in his atelier when he presented them, but people could still see the designs or rather the embroideries that covered them as they were made with phosphorescent beads.
As mentioned in a previous post the beads were the same used for rosary beads: plastic phosphorescent religious items such as little statues and rosary beads were rather popular up until the '80s and if you are a Catholic and grew up around those times you probably developed a fascination for these religious objects (though extremely kitsch, I've always had a soft spot for phosphorescent rosary beads as they were very popular when I was a little girl and I found them visually irresistible). The final visual effect of seeing the gowns in the darkness was simply stunning and the idea was inspired to Capucci after seeing a night procession.
LIFE mentioned the designs in its October 1965 issue, in a feature entitled "Luminescent finery" that linked the effect with an interest in space and the future. "Why luminescence in fashion?" the article wondered, "It has to do with Capucci's vision of the woman of the future: 'I saw her entering a dark nightclub like a lunar apparition'".
In the short article that showed the latest trends when it came to shiny fabrics, the magazine also stated that the beads were made by a chemical laboratory that created a safe nonradium product that "would turn the trick". There was no reference to rosary beads in the piece probably because that issue of the magazine focused on the first Papal visit to the States and featured a cover celebrating Pope Paul VI, so it was maybe deemed inappropriate to point at this fashion and religion connection.
Capucci wasn't being offensive, though, but was definitely inventive: he decontextualised the beads and let the idea of the procession take him into the future. The designs ended up being displayed in an exhibition about copyrights, trademarks and patents in Italy organised in 2011 and chronicling the decades between 1948 and 1970 and the developments and inventions created in those years.
The best thing about the designs was the fact that the idea was very original and rather brilliant (pun intended), but the main material employed was rather simple if you think about it (and nowadays it would be even cheaper to make something along Capucci's line as you can easily find phosphorescent rosary beads for less than 1 Euro). Yet the final effect Capucci obtained was stunning and ended up looking celestial, heavenly and futuristic, embodying the freedom and experimentation of the '60s. Shame the gowns didn't make into the "Heavenly Bodies" exhibition and shame nobody among the many celebrities invited at the Met Gala thought to make a surprising entrance in the dark but covered in phosphorescent rosary beads. Guess that's what happens when you're beautiful, famous and rich, but you don't know your fashion history.
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