Latest news with #Gammarelli
Times
26-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- Times
Holy hosiery: meet the Pope's sock maker
With world fame, world peace and a whole canon of other rather pressing demands in his in-tray, one can imagine that Pope Leo XIV will be grateful that there is at least one thing he never has to think about in his new role: where to buy his socks. On Rome's Via di Santa Chiara, snugly tucked behind the Pantheon — two and a half kilometres due east of Vatican City and the clerical wardrobe it has furnished for more than two centuries — sits Sartoria Gammarelli, purveyors of ecclesiastical clothing. This is our Pope's predestined destination for sock shopping. It has been tailor to the head of the Catholic church, head to toe, since 1798. If you have ever wondered where the holiest of hosiery is designed, look here. Gammarelli, a family-run outfit that has been in business for six generations, is something of a one-stop shop for the full, official papal look. Like everything else it makes, its socks are handmade for sitting popes from the finest materials. Upon completion, they are carefully packaged — not in multipacks but in individual pairs in fine tissue paper and delivered to the Apostolic Palace. • Read more luxury reviews, advice and insights from our experts Every day, for the rest of his days, Pope Leo will pull on the same iteration of knee-high red or white socks. This has less to do with personal preference than tradition: each pair is crafted bespoke for him, as his predecessors' were, by the head tailor at Gammarelli. In a life of dedicated piety, slipping them on is surely a plush perk. These socks are made of delicately woven silk. Planning for Leo's personal collection will have begun well before the cardinals cast their final vote this month. During conclave, Gammarelli is as hotly watched as the colour of the smoke that plumes from the Sistine Chapel chimney. Prior to a papal election the store displays three freshly sewn papal robes — from cassock and mozzetta cape to skull cap — in its windows, in small, medium and large. Its tailors are ready at any moment to transport one — or two, measurements pending — of these, and their operation, to Vatican City. There, they will fit and dress the pope-elect for his first public appearance. The Holy Father is the only client to receive such VIP treatment. Everyone else must make their own pilgrimage to Gammarelli's store. And they do: in droves. Priests come from all over the world to visit Gammarelli. So do their fans — including the global editor at large for Vogue Hamish Bowles — to purchase their own £41 pairs of socks in colours for every date in the Catholic liturgical calendar: green for everyday, purple for Lent and Advent, and red for Pentecost. Online, scarlet, black and violet versions are stocked on But it is only Il Papa who can wear the white styles. His uniform is sacred and unchanging. Like Steve Jobs with his black polonecks and Barack Obama with his blue or grey suits, the Pope knows that not wondering what to wear in the morning is a great luxury, enabling him to fully engage with higher matters.
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Condé Nast Traveler
08-05-2025
- General
- Condé Nast Traveler
Anyone Can Shop at the Pope's Rome Tailor
Tucked just behind the Pantheon is a tailor with a big claim: They dress the pope. Since its origin of 1798—under the pontificate of Pius VI—the family-run Gammarelli has been responsible for the wardrobes of the Vatican's most powerful figures. It's a cornerstone of Rome's legacy of craftsmanship, quality, and tradition, and can lay claim to producing the most divine of liturgical vestments for six generations of popes, bishops, cardinals, and priests. Ecclesiastical tailoring is a niche art, and the tailor's deep connection to the church is reflected in every stitch—each cassock (a priest's uniform), for example, features hand-sewn buttonholes with 30 (or more) buttons, compared to the standard 6 found on a double-breasted suit. The Vatican's exclusive outfitter is notified when new cardinals are appointed—and it's the shop's tailors who make their red robes. Right about now, when a conclave ends and a new pope is elected, it's Gammarelli who crafts three sets of papal vestments—small, medium, and large, all in white—to have at the ready. But for those who aren't in the market for a cloak or collar, there's another highly collectible item sold at Gammarelli: The socks. The decadent, clerical socks—available in mid-calf or knee-high pairs—are made from natural cotton lisle, pure silk, or ultra-soft merino wool. Cardinals wear red. Bishops wear purple. Priests wear black. And the Pope completes his uniform with a white—always knee-high—pair of Gammarelli's. These socks have found fans beyond the clergy, too—including French politicians François Fillon and Edouard Balladur. Because anyone can step inside the unassuming storefront and purchase one of these tried and true unique crafts of history. Still, what makes this long-lasting tailor shop irresistible to travelers and locals alike isn't just its ties to the Vatican. It's the rare chance to witness a living tradition—while contemporary Rome, like many other cities, swirls with new fast fashion shops and high-end boutiques, Gammarelli remains proudly analog as a vessel of time, tradition, and slow tailoring. And with such high, or rather divine, standards, each and every papal garment from biretta to cassock is handmade for longevity—designed to uphold both Vatican apparel and high-standard craft ritual for decades at a time. Today, the shop is led by Alessia Gammarelli, the first woman to head the family business, a sign of the tides of change, even alongside tradition. You can nab this distinctly Roman souvenir by stopping into Gammarelli—or shop their online site which, believe it, ships internationally (their socks are also available online via Parisian staple Mes Chaussettes Rouges). If you're feeling further inspired, also available for purchase are bright silk ties, super cute baby socks, and even a "Good Shepherd" chalice—just in case you need one.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Meet the Roman tailors behind the pope's first look
As the papal conclave ends with the emergence of white smoke from the Sistine Chapel to signify the selection of a new pope, tailors are creating the papal vestments — the pope's official attire. For centuries, papal garments have been crafted along Rome's cobblestone streets near the Vatican, where skilled artisans maintain traditions dating back generations. Raniero Mancinelli, whose shop opened in the 1960s just steps from the Vatican, has prepared three cassocks in different sizes for the new pontiff. "Tres size... Small medium, large," the 86-year-old told CBS News through a translator. "You don't know if the next Pope is going to be small, medium or large." Having worked with three popes: John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis, Mancinelli hopes to add a fourth to his prestigious client list. When asked which pope was his favorite, Mancinelli laughed and responded in Italian, "Secreto." The Gammarelli family represents the other prominent papal tailoring establishment. Their business, now in its sixth generation and led by Alessia Gammarelli, the family's first female proprietor, has served eight popes over their 200-year history. The pope's basic garment is a hand-stitched, white wool cassock, sometimes adorned with a burgundy, elbow-length cape — a feature Pope Francis chose not to wear. The outfit is completed with a white skullcap called a zucchetto. When questioned about future papal style preferences, Gammarelli said, "I don't know. Good question." While Gammarelli has seen images of papal vestments hanging inside the Vatican's Room of Tears, she said she can't confirm they're her family's work until the new pope makes his first public appearance. Sneak peek: The Depraved Heart Murder Did the conclave pick a front-runner to be new pope? Emotional reactions to news of a pope about to emerge at the Vatican
CBS News
08-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Meet the Roman tailors who will make the pope's official attire
These tailoring businesses eagerly await new pope to see if their papal garments are chosen As the papal conclave ends with the emergence of white smoke from the Sistine Chapel to signify the selection of a new pope, tailors are creating the papal vestments — the pope's official attire. For centuries, papal garments have been crafted along Rome's cobblestone streets near the Vatican, where skilled artisans maintain traditions dating back generations. Raniero Mancinelli, whose shop opened in the 1960s just steps from the Vatican, has prepared three cassocks in different sizes for the new pontiff. "Tres size... Small medium, large," the 86-year-old told CBS News through a translator. "You don't know if the next Pope is going to be small, medium or large." Raniero Mancinelli, who has crafted garments for three popes from his tiny shop near the Vatican, has prepared cassocks in small, medium, and large. CBS News Having worked with three popes: John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis, Mancinelli hopes to add a fourth to his prestigious client list. When asked which pope was his favorite, Mancinelli laughed and responded in Italian, "Secreto." The Gammarelli family represents the other prominent papal tailoring establishment. Their business, now in its sixth generation and led by Alessia Gammarelli, the family's first female proprietor, has served eight popes over their 200-year history. The pope's basic garment is a hand-stitched, white wool cassock, sometimes adorned with a burgundy, elbow-length cape — a feature Pope Francis chose not to wear. The outfit is completed with a white skullcap called a zucchetto. When questioned about future papal style preferences, Gammarelli said, "I don't know. Good question." While Gammarelli has seen images of papal vestments hanging inside the Vatican's Room of Tears, she said she can't confirm they're her family's work until the new pope makes his first public appearance.
Al Jazeera
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Vatican fashion: Rome's tailors abuzz over prospect of new pope
As Rome's tailors stitch new garments for clergymen, observers say what a pope wears could provide hints about his vision. Rome, Italy – For the princes of the Catholic Church, as cardinals are referred to, the conclave is not just about electing a pope. It is also about restocking wardrobes. In recent days, many have swung by central Rome's famed tailors before the conclave to browse and buy refined clerical vestments that are hard to find elsewhere. The Gammarelli family – whose artisans have been stitching vestments for popes for the past 100 years and garments for priests, bishops and cardinals since the 18th century – is among the most coveted brand. But Stefano Gammarelli, the sixth generation Gammarelli running the shop, said his bespoke tailors will not be dressing the next pope just yet. The Vatican informed the family this year that it will reuse cassocks from past elections – a move seen by some as honouring the environmentally friendly and waste-averse Francis, who died on April 21. 'We will hope for the next conclave,' Gammarelli told Al Jazeera. As with previous conclaves and before being told there was no need for its services, Gammarelli's team of tailors had gathered the measurements of cardinals who were among their clients and created cassocks for those they believed stood a good chance of being elected as the next leader of the Catholic Church. If a cardinal has not visited a tailor in a while, they tend to scour the internet to determine whether the clergyman has gained or lost a few kilos since his last purchase. 'We take all the measurements and do the math to get it right – then we cross our fingers for divine help,' Gammarelli said. However, that is not always an effective strategy. When Pope John XXIII was elected in 1958, the tens of thousands of faithful greeting him in St Peter's Square were likely unaware that he was standing on the terrace of St Peter's Basilica with his cassock cut in half at the back. 'Someone had given him the wrong size,' Gammarelli said. In previous years when tailors prepared to dress the new pope – a mystery figure – they would prepare a small, a medium and a large size of the costume, praying that he wouldn't be an XL. Raniero Mancinelli, another tailor whose shop has been providing garments to popes for more than 70 years, did not receive a call to make the cassocks for the momentous day either. But that did not deter him from preparing the vestments. He decided to stick with tradition regardless. Sign up for Al Jazeera Breaking News Alert Get real-time breaking news alerts and stay up-to-date with the most important headlines from around the globe. Subscribe Your subscription failed. Please try again. Please check your email to confirm your subscription By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy protected by reCAPTCHA Advertisement When a new pope is elected and appears on the balcony of St Peter's Basilica, he wears a hand-stitched light wool skirt, a white robe, a silk sash and a white zucchetto – or skullcap – which is red for cardinals, purple for bishops and black for priests. The white caps are in high demand because of an age-old tradition – giving a pope a new zucchetto and swapping it with the one he is wearing. And while there is not a great margin for style variations, each pope has had his preferences. 'Pope Francis was satisfied with a cheap light wool. Pope Benedict XVI used more elegant material between wool and silk,' Mancinelli said. Benedict XVI, Francis's immediate predecessor, made headlines for his style. He was even included in Esquire's best-dressed men list in 2007. His red shoes did not go unnoticed by fashion commentators. At one point, the Vatican had to make a statement quashing rumours that his footwear was designed by Prada. In fact, the German pontiff, who believed that nurturing the church's most ardent believers was the way to strengthen the institution, was a learned historian who enjoyed reviving old papal clothing traditions. That was the case for the red shoes, his fiddleback chasuble dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries and the red velvet cap trimmed with ermine (known as camauro) that had not been used for decades, observers noted. It was called the 'Santa hat'. Advertisement But when Francis was elected in 2013, he changed styles. A Jesuit, Francis was very much about action, about bringing the church into the streets: deeds not words. By contrast, Benedict XVI wore his history throughout his papacy, said Carol Richardson, an ecclesiastical and art historian at the University of Edinburgh. 'Francis did shift the tone of the papacy through his dress,' Richardson said. 'There was nothing hidden in what he wore, whereas I think Benedict was telling us about his wanting a purer church more faithful to its roots, even if this meant excluding some people.'
