Dressing up the Pope’s protectors: Meet the master tailor behind one of the best forces in the world

Besides the blazing red uniforms of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, perhaps no other uniformed band is as instantly recognizable as the Swiss Guards, the elite cadre that has protected the pope for more than five centuries.

A striking combination of bold colors and Renaissance-inspired design, its distinctive blue, red and mustard yellow stripes create a lively contrast. From the uniform’s double turtleneck and slim blazer to the puff sleeves and puffy trousers, it’s all impeccably tailored.

For nearly three decades, the Swiss Guard’s uniform has been designed — with every detail overseen — by Etty Cecione, 52, the Vatican’s chief tailor.

These meticulously designed costumes will be on full display as more than 32 million pilgrims are expected to flock to Rome for the 2025 Vatican Jubilee Year celebrations. During this time, plenary indulgences – the spiritual pardon that devout Catholics believe exempts them from temporal punishment for sins – will be granted. Where the Pope, surrounded by the Swiss Guard, will lead dozens of ceremonies and celebrations.

“We haven’t made any changes to the uniform in more than a century,” said Cesone, from his modest tailoring shop in the Vatican, hidden behind the main entrance of Vatican City’s Porta Santana where the Swiss Guards stand. “The challenge was keeping the uniform the way it was,” as some materials, fabrics and sewing techniques had become outdated.

“You have to draw each piece precisely and optimize the pieces to reduce waste,” Cicione said.

Tailor for the guards – and the stars

Dressed in a smart, fitted suit, Cicioni slides through the atelier with a graceful, economical movement – ​​past balls of brightly colored thread on wall racks and under high bars where half-finished jackets hang like festive streamers.

Framed photos of the tailor, his wife and two children with Popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis bear witness to his service to the Vatican for more than a quarter of a century. This will be Cicioni’s second time working as a tailor during the jubilee year, which comes every 25 years.

Each year, Cicioni and seven other tailors in the shop complete 120 outfits: 60 for the winter, 60 for the summer. Both are made from high-quality wool sourced from Biella, a town in the northern Piedmont region known for producing the best wool textiles in the world.

Each costume consists of 154 pieces of fabric, some of which are hand-stitched.

Cicione estimates that his workshop made more than 3,000 Swiss Guard uniforms. Groups of about ten new guards arrive three times a year: January, June and September. Candidates must be single Swiss Catholic men between the ages of 19 and 30, at least 174 cm (5’8″) tall, and have completed military training in Switzerland.

The current version of the uniform dates back to 1914, when Swiss Guard Captain Jules Ribond studied paintings of ceremonial and military uniforms of the early 16th century, focused on the styles of the Medici and della Rovere families that ruled Rome, and designed the uniform. Integrate the main elements.

The winter uniform weighs more than three kilograms, while the summer uniform made of lightweight wool still contributes to excessive sweating during the hot Rome summers. To protect the robe’s seams from abrasion caused by sweat, an annoying problem, Cicioni added lining—the only significant modification he made.

But Cicioni not only made the uniforms for the Vatican, he also lent his expertise to filmmaking for films with a papal theme: The young pope and The new pope TV series, both directed by Paolo Sorrentino; Popes By Francisco Meirelles. and The Pope’s exorcist By Julius Avery.

“The only thing I didn’t do was concaveHe added, laughing: “I hope to see it soon and will be watching the fashions closely.”

You were offered the job without any experience required

Despite his years sewing for the Holy See, Cicione says leading the Vatican’s tailoring office was never something he envisioned for himself.

Hailing from a small seaside town on the Adriatic coast in the Abruzzo region, Cissoni grew up with a mother who ran a dry cleaning shop and did small repair and tailoring. With the craft running in the family – his three sisters are seamstresses – he went to work for a company high fashion The atelier was later acquired by Gucci.

In the fall of 1997, a local man working for the Vatican asked him if he would be interested in interviewing to replace the Vatican’s chief tailor, who was about to retire.

“When I got here, they were still using the old foot-pedal sewing machines,” Cicione said. “I thanked them for the opportunity, but I said I work in a different field and cannot do my job with such antiques.”

After a month and a half, he received a call from the Vatican asking him about the equipment he needed to carry out this mission. He faxed them a list and half an hour later they phoned to offer him the job, no trial required.

“I still don’t know why I was chosen,” the devout Catholic said. “I can’t help but think it was a higher power at play.”

Cissone’s wife, Lucia Marcellusi, joined him in the atelier as soon as they married, a few years after he began his work at the Vatican. Today, she works alongside Cicioni, cutting and sewing new uniforms for new Swiss Guard recruits scheduled to arrive in the new year.

Black market uniform

The Vatican jealously guards the uniforms, prohibits their resale and allows the Swiss Guards to keep them until after five years of service. Even in this case, the guards are required to sign a contract promising that upon death, they will be buried in uniform or bequeath it to a Swiss association of former Swiss Guards.

“They discovered children or grandchildren of the Swiss Guard trying to sell the uniforms on eBay,” Cicione said. “So the Vatican restored the uniform and implemented the rule.”

Old uniforms that cannot be recycled are cut into small pieces, often as a task given to the Swiss Guards as punishment for being late to their duty.

Cecione says he believes the Swiss Guard uniform will continue long into the future, but he worries that the kind of patience required to train and nurture young talent in high-level tailoring is largely a thing of the past.

“When we bring in someone new, it can take years to understand if they have what it takes,” he said. “And if they don’t, it’s a huge cost in terms of wasted time and energy. But you have to take a risk if you want this vehicle to survive.”

He says his true dream is to open a sewing school, and pass on the skills, secrets and satisfaction that shaped his life and the life of his family to future generations.