Ratti Foundation

Como, Lungo Lago Trento, 9. Founded in 1985 by the silk entrepreneur Antonio Ratti who donated his collection of ancient fabrics to the Foundation: 2,870 specimens (most of them operated silks, but also Copt fabrics, cashmere shawls, women’s “ties” and 1,551 catalogue-books). As the Foundation’s purposes are to conserve historical clothing and textiles, and to enable study and research, spaces and containers have been specially designed to allow these activities. The Foundation promotes research, the advancement of technology for the study of ancient and modern fabrics, and, in a wider sense, the diffusion of a textile culture. Every year it holds a course in Visual Arts.