The Met's Heavenly Bodies exhibition praises fashion influenced by Catholicism

Ties between fashion and the Catholic church are examined in an exhibition split across two venues of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Organised by the museum's Costume Institute in collaboration with the department of Medieval Art, Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination explores how the religion's imagery and symbolism has impacted contemporary haute-couture and ready-to-wear designs.

"The exhibition situates costumes alongside religious artworks to provide an interpretive context for fashion's engagement in Catholicism," said chief curator Andrew Bolton during a press conference.

"Most of the designers featured in the exhibition were raised Catholic," he continued. "While many of them no longer practice, their relationships to Catholicism vary considerably. Most acknowledge its significant influence over their imaginations."

Visitors are invited to make a "pilgrimage" through various sections of the Fifth Avenue building, before travelling to The Met Cloisters at Manhattan's northern tip for the second part.

The two locations cover different themes relating to the overall title, across a total of 25 galleries and 60,000 square feet (5,570 square metres) of exhibition space designed by New York architecture firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

At Fifth Avenue, spread through the Byzantine and Medieval galleries, the garments and ensembles on show represent the opulence and "pageantry" often associated with Catholicism.

Extravagant pieces by famed designers like Alexander McQueen, Yves Saint Laurent, Jean Paul Gaultier and John Galliano were chosen for their visual connections to "the cults of saints, angels and the Virgin Mary".

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