When the cathedral reopens in December, French fashion designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac hopes the vestments will be viewed by the world as a testament to renewal and the “power of colour” to heal and inspire.
PARIS — When Jean-Charles de Castelbajac watched as Notre Dame cathedral burned in April 2019, he felt compelled to act somehow.
“It’s bigger than a job. It’s a bit mysterious … mysterious,” Castelbajac said, his eyes brimming with wonder as he previewed some of the 2,000 colourful pieces for 700 celebrants at his Paris home. “It's a calling. To be called like that is synchronicity.” The commission was not subject to an open call. Instead, Castelbajac was handpicked by the Catholic leadership, due to his history of designing for the church.
For Castelbajac, 74, the memory of those two hours in 2019 spent watching the fire with his wife amid people praying on their knees still evokes both grief and determination. Castelbajac’s fascination with colour began as a child in a military boarding school in Normandy, an experience he recalled as stifling and grey. “It was the absolute loneliness. It was colourless,” he said.“Colour was like my teddy bear, my transitional element in a world of conflict. Each morning, there was the stained glass in the church and the coats of arms in the refectory that filled my world with primary colours,” he explained.
While his designs have graced runways and music icons, Castelbajac’s work for Notre Dame strikes a different, more personal chord.
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