Musée de la Mode et du Textile
Established in 1977 in the Rohan wing of the Louvre, the museum of fashion and textiles brings together one of the most important fashion collections in the world. Since 1999 a central hall has housed the permanent collection, which is comprised of eighty-one thousand items, including clothes (dating from the 17th century to the present day), fashion accessories, textile samples, even books, drawings and original prints. Ninety percent of these collections originate from personal donations, including those of great designers such as Vionnet, Schiaparelli, Poiret, Dior, Chanel, and Ricci. In 1997 and 1998, while renovations to the main gallery were underway, the museum constructed a temporary two-floor structure housing two “theaters.” The display in the first of these examined the geometry of the body, tailoring, and decorative motifs. The second, curated by Ezio Frigerio, comprised 250 outfits, from the 16th to the 20th centuries, and a selection of accessories and jewelry, demonstrating the presence of exoticism throughout the history of Western fashion.