Collections

Collections of the Galliera museum are very rich. With that, it displays exhibits of French fashion design and costume from the 18th century to the present day.

There are a lot of costumes including clothes owned by Marie Antoinette, Louis XVII, or the Empress Josephine. There are also film costumes like the dress of Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), and pieces of clothes by the leading 19th and 20th century designers: Balenciaga, Pierre Balmain, Anne Marie Beretta, Madeleine Chéruit, Sonia Delaunay, Christian Dior, Jean Paul Gaultier, Givenchy, Paul Poiret, paco Rabanne, Yves Saint Laurent, Elsa Schiaparelli...

There are undergarments like an excellent collection of slips, corsets, crinolines... A lot of accessories are preserved like jewelry, canes, hats, fans, purses, scarves, gloves (including a pair owned by Sarah Bernhardt), umbrellas... Finally, we have graphic arts and photography (stamps, drawings, photography, advertisements... )

The fashion museum's birth

In 1907, Maurice Leloir, historian and collector, established the Société de l’Histoire du Costume. He wanted to protect the savoir faire of craftsmen who made costumes. A museum was to be a place of education for artists and wardrobe masters. When in 1920, he donated his collection of 2000 costumes and accessories to the city of Paris, he asked them one thing: create a Costume museum. In his collection, we find civilian, military, regional costumes. At first, The Carnavalet museum welcomed his collection. On November 23rd 1956, it was inaugurated rue de Sévigné. But, the place was too small, so exhibitions werre organized in the musée d'Art moderne. Finally, in 1977, the museum settled down in the Galliera Palace.

The Galliera Palace

The Galliera Palace is a palace in the Renaissance style. It faces Brignole Galliera Square, immediately north of the Palais de Tokyo and one block east of the Musée Guimet. This stone monument has a metallic structure designed by Gustave Eiffel's agency. The duchess Galliera entrusted the management of the project to the architect Léon Ginain. He made the plans like those of the duchess's palace in Genoa. The mosaic floors and domes were made by Giandomerico Facchina.

The statues on the façade (Avenue du President Wilson) represent "Painting" by Henri Chapu, "Architecture" by Jules Thomas, and "Sculpture" by Peter Cavelier. In 1916, a fountain was built in front of the museum.

The palace Galliera was finished in 1894 and bequeathed to Paris in 1895. It became an industrial museum. This museum stayed there until 1936. In 1954, it became a place for temporary exhibition or prestigious auctions and in 1977, the building welcomed the Musée du Costume de la Ville de Paris.

The Duchess Galliera

Marie Brignole-Sale, duchess of Galliera, was born on 5th of April 1811. She came from a noble
Italian family. She was a great amateur of art. The duchess used to frequent auction rooms and international exhibitions. She had a great collection of sculpture, Flemish Spanish and Venetian painting, and  furniture of the 18th century.
In Paris, she decided to show her collection to the public. So she had a palace built on a site bought by her husband, the marquis Raphaël de Ferrari. But the duchess's works of art didn't go to her palace because she gave the whole of her collection to Genoa. She died in 1888.

Presentation of the museum

The Galliera museum, also known as Le Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris, is the fashion museum of Paris.  It is located in the 16th arrondissement. 

The museum has no permanent exhibition because of the condition of preservation of textiles. Indeed, costumes are very fragile and cannot be exposed for a long time to light without risk of damage.

Every year, 2 to 3 temporary exhibitions are presented to the public. Its collections of fashion items are very rich. More than 100 000 pieces of clothes and accessories are stocked, which represent clothing in France from the 18th century to the present day. 

The Musée du Costume de la Ville de Paris was created in 1959. In 1977, the museum moved out and settled in Duchess Galliera's palace. 

In 1997, the institution was modernized and renamed Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris.