Pope Leo has quickly made an impression through sartorial choices shaped by papal protocol and a focus on understated power. Vogue recognized him among the best dressed people of 2025, and his garments are designed by Filippo Sorcinelli, who has created sacred vestments for more than 20 years for cardinals, bishops, and popes, including Pope Francis and Pope Benedict. Sorcinelli emphasizes that the holy garments should avoid spectacle and instead build a visual language of reliability, balance, and quiet authority. Pope Leo has also been photographed wearing personal touches such as Nike sneakers and a Chicago White Sox cap. The robes are hand-embroidered, can take up to 1000 hours, and may cost upwards of $7,500, with distinct styles across different pontiffs.
"“Nothing seems oriented toward spectacle: each visual choice contributes to building a language of reliability, balance and quiet authority,” the 50-year-old designer told the Daily Mail."
"“In Leo XIV, one senses a style born of a choice for measure, a composed bearing that speaks first of all of an ordered interiority and of authority,” Sorcinelli said."
"Robes for the Catholic A-list are embroidered by hand and can take Sorcinelli up to 1000 hours to finish. And they are not cheap. The ornate gowns can run upwards of $7500."
"Pope Leo has expressed his own personal stye within the confines of papal protocol having been photographed wearing Nike sneaker under one of his robes and another time in a Chicago White Sox cap while at a Vatican event."
Read at Queerty
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