Heavenly Bodies at the Met Cloisters, 2018

The exhibition Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination exploded onto the New York art and fashion scene when it appeared in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2018. The main exhibit (and its crowds of admirers) consumed the Medieval Galleries of the Met, but the monastic treasure trove at The Cloisters hosted a smaller, more one-to-one experience.

John Galliano for Dior

If the exhibition at the main galleries depicted the pomp and ritualism of the Catholic faith, the exhibits at the Cloisters exaggerated personal expression and private contemplation. A red Galliano piece with a black cross and manuscript text detail posed in a monk-like cell; a Balenciaga bride stood vigil in the Cloisters' Fuentidueña Chapel.

1967 Balenciaga wedding ensemble

A baptismal font near the entrance stood flanked by Azzedine Alaïa and AF Vandervorst designs which referenced baptismal garments: baby's first ballgowns, reimagined.

Many of the designers are Catholic and added visual elements of the faith: Jean-Paul Gaultier's Guadalupe dress echoed the familiar painting of the sword-pierced Sacred Heart that hangs in many Catholic homes.

Jean-Paul Gaultier, Guadalupe dress, 2007.

With brides and mothers came martyrs: a Joan of Arc armoured figure by John Galliano in the Gothic Chapel rested in regal splendour.

John Galliano for Christian Dior, armoured dress, 2006.

Detail of crown and armour.

The Saint-Guilhem Cloister was originally part of a Benedictine monastery in Saint-Guilhem-le-Desért. The caped figures displayed here evoked medieval saints like the Santo Niño or San Lucia who were the patron saints of a particular church and parish. The pattern on the ensemble, designed by Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli, echoed the Roman arches of the famous Colisseum, as well as the Romanesque architecture of the original monastery.

Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli for Valentino, 2015-16.

The Tapestry Room is famous for housing the beloved medieval series The Hunt of the Unicorn. For this exhibit it also hosted this surreal fluffball wedding dress by Thom Browne.

Thom Browne wedding ensemble, 2018. Pictured with tapestries The Unicorn in Captivity and
The Unicorn at the Fountain, ca. 1600. Photo by Agaton Strom for the New York Times, 2018.

In the Late Gothic Hall, pieces by Alexander McQueen stood beside this gold wedding dress by Dolce & Gabbana, an ensemble with enough glitz for three Renaissance popes.

Dolce and Gabbana wedding dress, 2013.

And in the Cuxa Cloisters surrounding the medieval garden stood a row of figures dressed in outfits inspired by nuns and monks, ranging from the dark Dominican and severe Benedictine to the warm browns and grays of the Franciscans and Carmelites.

Designs by Geoffrey Beene, Madame Grès, Claire McCardell, Rick Owens,
Pierpaolo Piccioli, and Valentina

The excess of fashion design and the serene monastic surroundings created a fantastical world of contrasts that we were happy to drift in for hours. This exhibition may have been more of a feast for the senses than the soul, but either way we left extremely satisfied!