Dressing the pope’s bodyguards: Meet the master tailor behind the world’s best-dressed armies

Along with the fiery red Serge uniform of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, perhaps no other official body is as instantly recognizable as that of the Swiss Guards, the elite force that has protected the pope for more than five centuries.

A striking combination of bold colors and Renaissance inspired design, its signature blue, red and mustard yellow stripes create a clear contrast. From the jacket with double high collars and the fitted jacket to the puffed sleeves and blue trousers, everything has been done with precision.

For almost three decades, the uniforms of the Swiss Guard have been designed – every detail is directed – by Ety Cicioni, 52, the Vatican’s chief tailor.

These intricately designed uniforms will be on full display as more than 32 million tourists are expected to flock to Rome for the Vatican’s 2025 Jubilee Year. At this time, the spiritual forgiveness that devout Catholics believe relieves temporary punishment for sins – will be given, the pope, led by the Swiss guards, leading a number of ceremonies and celebrations.

“It’s been more than a century since we made changes to the uniform,” said Cicioni, from his Vatican tailoring company, behind the main gate of Porta Sant’Anna to Vatican City where Swiss guards stand guard. “The challenge has been to keep the uniforms the same,” as some materials, fabrics and sewing techniques have become outdated.

“You have to draw each piece precisely and maximize the cut to minimize waste,” says Cicioni.

Sew the guards – and the stars

Dressed in a shiny, well-fitted suit, Cicioni glides across the stage with a fine economy of movement – ​​spools of brightly colored yarn pass on racks on the wall and under high rails where half-finished jackets hang like a festive stream.

Framed portraits of the fashion designer, his wife and two children with Pope John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis testify to his more than four centuries of artistic service to the Vatican. This will be Cicioni’s second time working as a fashion designer during the Jubilee year, which comes every 25 years.

Each year, Cicioni and seven other tailors in the shop complete 120 uniforms: 60 for winter, 60 for summer. Both are made of high-quality wool from Biella, a town in northern Piedmont famous for producing the world’s best woolen fabrics.

Each uniform is made from 154 pieces of fabric, some of which are sewn by hand.

Cicioni estimates that his vendor has made more than 3,000 Swiss Guard uniforms. Groups of a dozen or more new guards arrive three times a year: January, June and September. Candidates must be Catholic, single Swiss men aged 19 to 30, at least 174 cm (5’8″) tall, and have completed military training in Switzerland.

The modern form of the uniform dates back to 1914, when Swiss Guard Commandant Jules Repond studied ceremonial and military costume drawings from the early 16th century, focusing on the styles of the Medici and Della Rovere families that ruled Rome, and designed the uniform. which includes important features.

The winter uniform weighs more than three kilograms, while the summer version of light wool still contributes to a lot of sweat during the hot Roman summer. To protect the cap’s texture from perspiration, a common problem, Cicioni added a lining – his only significant change.

But Cicioni didn’t just create the Vatican uniform: he also lent his expertise to the movie business with papal films: The New Pope again The New Pope TV series, both directed by Paolo Sorrentino; Two Popes by Francesco Meirelles; again The Pope’s Exorcist by Julius Avery.

“It’s the only thing I didn’t do Conclave“, he said with a laugh, “I hope I will see it soon and I will take a closer look at the costume.”

He offered the job without the necessary trial

Despite the years he spent working for the Holy See, Cicioni says that leading the Vatican office was never something he thought about.

From a small coastal town on the Adriatic coast in the Abruzzo region, Cicioni grew up with a mother who ran a laundry and mended small clothes. Because of the handicraft in the family – her three sisters are tailors – she went to work another way an atelier that was later acquired by Gucci.

In the fall of 1997, a local man who worked for the Vatican asked him if he would be interested in being interviewed to replace the Vatican’s couturier, who was retiring.

“When I got here they were still using old sewing machines,” said Cicioni. “I thanked them for the opportunity, but I said that I work in a different place and I can’t do my job with such old things.”

A month and a half later, he received a call from the Vatican asking him what materials he needed to do the job. He faxed them the list and half an hour later they called and offered him the job, no offense required.

“I still don’t know why I was chosen,” said the devout Catholic. “I think it was a high energy game.”

Cicioni’s wife, Lucia Marcellosi, joined him when they were married, a few years after he started at the Vatican. He is working alongside Cicioni, today, to cut and sew new uniforms for the new Swiss Guard recruits set to arrive in the new year.

Black market uniform

The Vatican guards the uniform jealously, banning its sale and allowing the Swiss Guard to keep it only after five years of service. Even then the security guards are required to sign a contract promising that when they die they will be buried in the costume or leave it to the Swiss association of former Swiss security guards.

“They found children or grandchildren of the Swiss Guards trying to sell uniforms on Ebay,” said Cicioni. “So the Vatican bought a uniform and implemented this law.”

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

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

“If we bring in a new person, it can take years to understand if he has what he needs,” he said. “And if they don’t, that’s a huge cost in terms of lost time and energy. But you have to take the risk if you want this craft to survive.”

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