Haute Couture vor dem Altar? [Haute couture before the altar?]

• Published in: Kunsthandwerk & Design no. 1; pp. 34 - 39
• Main Author: Göksu, Cornelia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: German
• Published: 01.01.2005
• ISSN: 0454-6539

Discusses the exhibition Haute Couture vor dem Altar on show at the St. -Annen-Museum in Lübeck, Germany (Jan.-27 Feb. 2005), featuring clothing from a competition of designs for lay people in the Church organized in 2003 by the Deutsche Liturgische Institut of Trier, Germany, and the Deutsche Textilmuseum of Krefeld, Germany. The author introduces the simultaneously functional and festive character of lay clothing, explains how the Vatican II Council of 1962-65 first allowed lay people to participate in the service of the Catholic mass, and notes the Alben-Suit (2003; col. illus.) for which the Dutch Team Stadelmaier won third prize in the competition. She traces the evolution of clerical clothing between the second century AD and the modern era, outlines the scope of participants in the competition, and presents the pieces of first-prize winner Dorit Köhler and third-prize winner Sister Klara Antons in a discussion of the pieces in the competition as a whole. She examines the range of materials used by the competitors, and concludes by commenting on the collections held at the St.-Annen-Museum.