Raniero Mancinelli, the tailor of the Popes: this is the skullcap and sash the new Pope will wear.

Leaving Vatican City on the right side and taking Via del Mascherino, it only takes a few minutes to reach the iconic Roman street of Borgo Pio . With its medieval architecture, this pedestrian street is distinguished by a peaceful atmosphere, dotted with bakeries, ice cream parlors, and trattorias that, in these spring months, extend their tables and parasols outdoors. But beyond its tourist appeal, Borgo Pio maintains a unique connection with the Holy See: at numbers 89 and 90 is Mancinelli Clero , a small ecclesiastical tailoring shop that has made liturgical vestments for three Popes and dozens of cardinals.

As soon as you cross the threshold of the store, the first thing that catches your eye is the display of color: a rainbow of chasubles—green, purple with gold embroidery, and red—display cases with skullcaps and stole hangers, some specially designed for the 2025 Jubilee. Inside the display case at the counter, a myriad of crosses are lined up: gold, silver, some set with precious stones. Even authentic replicas of Pope Francis's pectoral cross are on display.

An employee is sewing the black tassel of a cap at the workbench when Raniero Mancinelli emerges from the small workshop hidden at the back of the store. "Ciao," he greets. "Give me five minutes, please," says the 87-year-old owner and tailor, gesturing toward the iPhone he is holding. He is about to be interviewed by Italian radio station RAI.

While the reporter and photographer wait, several bishops and priests of all nationalities enter and exit the store. A Hong Kong cleric approaches the clerk and asks to see the liturgical vestments available. "We have either wool or polyester," he says, holding up two cassocks. "The wool one will be cooler if it's hot tomorrow," he adds, referring to the Pope's funeral, which will be held in St. Peter's Square this Saturday. Minutes later, two assistants of Cardinal Rouco Varela arrive, charged with "buying the red zuchetto "—a colloquial way of saying skullcap—that he "needs for the Holy Father's funeral service." They recognize in Mancinelli the excellence of a craft that, stitch by stitch, keeps alive the tradition of handmade ecclesiastical tailoring .

The tailor opened his business in 1962 during the Second Vatican Council. But he took his first steps in the trade as a teenager, when he started as an apprentice to a craftsman at the age of 15. "I'm from Camerino, a town in eastern Italy. My father was a farmer and wanted me to be one too, but I had other ideas," the tailor tells EL MUNDO. "I came to Rome and haven't looked back."

-What was the first suit you made?

-Good question... no one had ever asked me that before. The first one was for a bishop, I think he was Iraqi. He commissioned three vestments.

Today, six decades later, he still runs Mancinelli Clero with his daughter Laura and his grandson Lorenzo , whom we found sewing a red sash with an antique Necchi sewing machine that his grandfather bought secondhand as soon as the store opened. "This machine is over 100 years old. We do everything by hand," explains the 23-year-old. The image is one of contrast: next to the machine, which could easily be used for decoration, rests a state-of-the-art iMac computer on the table. Tradition versus modernity. Raniero smiles and adds: "I have a file in the workshop with the measurements of all the cardinals and popes, so we can make whatever they need, custom-made."

On the walls of the workshop hang photos of the tailor alongside John Paul II , Benedict XVI , and Francis . All three trusted him with their vestments—including the latter two when they were still cardinals—as did many other members of the College of Cardinals, which has earned him the trust and respect of the highest ecclesiastical hierarchy. Not surprisingly, the next Pontiff to emerge from the conclave, scheduled for the coming weeks, will appear on the balcony of St. Peter's wearing a sash and skullcap made by him.

-How do you make a Pope costume?

-You start by taking the measurements, then you cut the material and start sewing.

-But if you don't know who will be chosen, how do you do it?

I make two or three sizes: small, medium, and large. Then they're presented at the Vatican, and the new Pope puts on the one that best fits him, also to go out in the cassock that best suits him. It's a simple white cassock, without symbols, without embroidery, nothing. Then, each person adds whatever they need, whatever they want. The only thing he puts on top is the white sash, which we've already made with a gold detail.

-And do you feel pressure when making a cassock for a Pope?

The pressure is there, no doubt, but I do it with a lot of love and affection. And that gives me great satisfaction. When I work for a Pope, I try to put emotions aside.

Francis's papacy was noted for its simplicity in all aspects, and fashion was no exception. The question now is whether his successor will continue in that vein or not. "I can't say for sure, but it's true that the style of the previous Pope often influences that of the next," says Mancinelli. "Perhaps the era of simplicity is here to stay."

It's inevitable to ask him about the late Pontiff, whom he had the opportunity to meet on several occasions. "He was always very kind to me, very courteous, with a smile. He had one of those looks that told you everything. He didn't need many words. But he had a great sense of humor," he says.

Mancinelli recounts that Jorge Mario Bergoglio visited his shop a few days before the conclave that elected him Pope to buy a cardinal's sash. "When I told him the price, he jokingly replied: 'Ah, you're a good thief,' " he says, laughing. " But he paid me for it! So that means he was happy," he adds.

He developed a long friendship with the Pope Emeritus, which began when Joseph Ratzinger was a cardinal. "Three days after becoming Pope, he invited me to a private Mass," he shares. He was also close to a cardinal who worked closely with John Paul II. "He came to the store a lot, so we ended up getting to know each other quite well. One day, he invited me to breakfast at the Vatican and afterward asked, 'How was breakfast?' I thanked him for the invitation. And he said, 'Do you know what you're eating? Those are the cookies His Holiness John Paul II just had for breakfast at this very table ,'" he recounts. "I couldn't believe it!"

The tailor to the Popes knows that his legacy is sewn into every fold of the white cassocks that have crossed St. Peter's Square. Words are not needed to express the gratitude he feels for the trust his customers place in him every time they enter his shop. And even if they close their doors one day, the invisible thread that connects his work to history will endure, as firm and resilient as the faith that has guided him all these years.