The whirlwind first year of Pope Leo XIV’s papacy has earned him quite possibly his most unexpected honour yet: a place on Vanity Fair’s “best dressed” list.
Pope Leo was honoured alongside Harry Styles, Jacob Elordi, Kendall Jenner, Spike Lee and Björk, among many others. The Pope was listed in the “Originals” category.
Vanity Fair said Pope Leo’s “most memorable look” was when he wore a pair of Nike sneakers with a “modest cream cassock”.
(Editor’s note: The image shown of Pope Leo in the Vanity Fair article does not depict him wearing a cassock with sneakers; rather, he is wearing an alb and chasuble… and a pair of Nike Franchise Low Plus shoes. Also, as an Augustinian, he would have worn a black tunic as part of his habit, not a cassock.)
While the vestments-and-Nikes combination was hardly the most ornate of Pope Leo’s outfits during his life, the image did cause quite a stir on the internet when it was included in a preview of “Leone a Roma”, a Vatican-produced documentary about his time in Rome prior to his election to the papacy.
“Naturally, when the trailer went live, a certain contingency of sneaker-obsessed folks on the internet scrambled to get a confirmed ID on the shoe,” wrote Tres Dean in GQ about the hunt to identify the Pope’s Nikes.
The magazine further praised Pope Leo for keeping “his sense of wry casualness, sometimes sporting baseball caps” as pontiff.
Vanity Fair’s admiration of his shoe choices aside, Pope Leo’s “fashion” choices as Pope have been a point of discussion.
When he first appeared on the balcony at St Peter’s Basilica following his election to the papacy, Pope Leo XIV was wearing a red satin mozzetta. The mozzetta is a capelike garment worn over the shoulders, and it signifies authority within the Church. Pope Francis had eschewed the mozzetta for the duration of his papacy, preferring a simpler, less ornate style.
He also revived the tradition of the “papal morse”, a large, ornate clasp used to secure a cope. The last Pope to wear this was Pope Benedict XVI.
Aside from his Nikes, Pope Leo XIV’s choice of footwear as Pope has also been notable. Following in the footsteps (pun intended) of his predecessor, Pope Leo has not worn red shoes commonly associated with the papacy.
He also reportedly rejected a pair of white shoes with yellow trim, preferring instead that they be black in colour.
