The Museum of Costume and Fashion (Museo della Moda e del Costume), often referred to as the Galleria del Costume, is a premier institution dedicated to the history of fashion, costume, and their social and cultural significance. Housed in the Palazzina della Meridiana within the historic Palazzo Pitti in Florence, Italy, it stands as the first state-run museum in the country focused exclusively on fashion. Established in 1983, the museum's collections span centuries, offering insights into the evolution of clothing, accessories, and textiles from the Renaissance era to contemporary times. With over 15,000 artifacts, including rare garments and jewelry, it serves as a vital repository for understanding fashion as an art form intertwined with history, politics, and society. The museum not only preserves these items but also rotates them periodically to ensure conservation, while integrating them with broader artistic contexts like painting, sculpture, and architecture.
The museum's location in the Palazzina della Meridiana is itself
steeped in history, reflecting Florence's grand ducal past. Construction
of the Palazzina began in 1776 under Grand Duke Peter Leopold of Tuscany
(also known as Pietro Leopoldo), with designs by architect Gaspero Maria
Paoletti. It was intended as an extension to the southern wing of
Palazzo Pitti, serving as a residence for the ruling families. The
building was completed in 1830 (though some sources note 1840) by
architect Pasquale Poccianti during the reign of Grand Duke Leopold II.
The name "Meridiana" derives from an astronomical instrument—a sundial
or meridiana—created in 1699 by mathematician Vincenzo Viviani, which is
still housed in the vestibule. This features a gnomon pinhole originally
located in the apartment of Grand Prince Ferdinando de’ Medici. The
vestibule's vault is adorned with a fresco by Anton Domenico Gabbiani,
titled Allegory of Time and the Arts, painted in 1693. Over the
centuries, the Palazzina bore the influences of successive dynasties,
including the Habsburg-Lorraine family, the House of Savoy (who used it
until 1946), the regency of Maria Luisa of Parma, and the brief rule of
Elisa Baciocchi (Napoleon's sister). These occupants contributed to its
furnishings, decorative murals, and overall opulence, transforming it
from a functional extension into a symbol of aristocratic life. Prior to
the museum's establishment, many of the costumes and accessories now on
display were stored in the palace's warehouses.
Founding and
Early Development (1983 Onward)
The museum was officially founded in
1983 by curator Kristen Aschengreen Piacenti, marking a pivotal moment
in Italian cultural history as the nation's first state museum devoted
to fashion. This initiative recognized fashion not merely as a transient
trend but as an enduring art form reflective of societal changes, power
dynamics, and cultural evolution—from the Medici court to the rise of
"Made in Italy." Piacenti's vision emphasized the educational value of
fashion, showcasing how garments and accessories illustrate shifts in
fabrics, styles, and social norms.
Initially, the museum occupied 13
rooms in the Palazzina, including six on the front side, with displays
in air-conditioned showcases to protect delicate items. The collections
were built almost entirely through donations from private individuals,
companies, and associations, rather than state acquisitions. A
significant early donation came from Umberto Tirelli, founder of the
renowned Sartoria Tirelli, who contributed about 90 theatre costumes
along with other historical pieces. These included stage outfits worn by
stars in 20th-century productions directed by figures like Luchino
Visconti and Franco Zeffirelli.
Collections: Scope, Key
Artifacts, and Acquisitions
The museum's holdings exceed 15,000 items
(earlier estimates cited around 6,000, but expansions have increased
this figure), encompassing clothing, underwear, jewelry, costume
jewelry, shoes, hats, fans, parasols, bags, and other accessories. While
the core focuses on the 18th century to the present, rare 16th-century
pieces anchor the collection, notably the fully restored funeral
garments of Cosimo I de’ Medici, his wife Eleanor of Toledo, and their
son Garzia de’ Medici—these are part of the permanent display and
represent some of the oldest surviving European clothing.
Highlights include:
18th- and 19th-century gowns from Italian and
French workshops, showcasing Rococo and Empire styles.
Early
20th-century pieces like the Tunica Delphos by Mariano Fortuny (inspired
by ancient Greek designs), Charleston dresses by Chanel, and Sicilian
woman's slippers.
Mid-20th-century icons, such as Rosa Genoni's 1906
court coat (Renaissance-inspired) and garments by Elsa Schiaparelli,
Yves Saint Laurent, Pierre Cardin, and Roberto Capucci.
Theatre and
film costumes, linking fashion to performing arts.
Acquisitions
continue through donations, with a nearby fabric restoration laboratory
ensuring preservation. The museum's policy rotates exhibits every few
years (typically 4 years per item, with some sources noting bi-monthly
changes for thematic variety) to prevent damage from light, humidity,
and handling.
Display Evolution and Educational Approach
From
its inception, the museum adopted an educational framework, arranging
items to trace fashion's chronological and thematic
progression—initially thematic, but shifting to chronological by the
mid-2020s for clearer historical narratives. Displays integrate fashion
with other arts: for instance, 18th-century dresses are juxtaposed with
porcelain vases or portraits by artists like Giovanni Boldini, Vittorio
Corcos, and Alberto Burri. Video installations reconstruct historical
contexts, such as the birth of Italian high fashion at Palazzo Pitti in
the post-war era. Spaces like the dancing hall host temporary
exhibitions, enhancing the museum's dynamic role.
Recent
Renovations, Reopening, and Exhibitions (2021–2026)
In 2021, the
museum closed for a comprehensive four-year renovation to refurbish the
Palazzina della Meridiana's historical interiors, addressing structural
and conservation needs. It reopened in June 2025 with a refreshed
layout, emphasizing interdisciplinary connections between fashion,
painting, sculpture, theatre, and architecture—for example, Mariano
Fortuny's dresses alongside Eleonora Duse's sculptures. The reopening
featured expanded displays of rare items from the 18th century to the
2000s, grouped by typologies and themes.
Notable post-reopening
exhibitions include:
Moda in Luce 1925–1955: Alle origini del
Made in Italy (June 2025 onward), exploring Italian fashion's roots
through garments and accessories.
A Century of Fashion (October
2025), showcasing 40 iconic pieces by designers like Schiaparelli and
Saint Laurent.
The wing known as the Palazzo della Meridiana owes its name to the
Sala della Meridiana, which was built under the astronomical consultancy
of Vincenzo Viviani between 1693 and 1696, with a gnomonic hole within a
fresco of the Allegory of Time which enhances the Science and tramples
Ignorance and, together with Merit, pays homage to Galileo Galilei and
Amerigo Vespucci by Anton Domenico Gabbiani.
In 1776 Pietro
Leopoldo of Lorraine decided to build a real outbuilding south of
Palazzo Pitti, the project of which was entrusted to the architect
Gaspare Paoletti, who worked there until 1813 assisted by Giuseppe
Cacialli. A decade later it was completed by Pasquale Poccianti, who
created the southern façade, equipped the building with new rooms and
oversaw the decoration programme.
The costume gallery was founded in 1983 under the direction of
Kristen Aschengreen Piacenti and contains a collection which, including
objects in storage, reaches more than 6,000 artefacts, including antique
clothes (the oldest date back to the 16th century), accessories,
theatrical and cinematographic costumes of great documentary importance,
making it one of the most important fashion museums in the world. The
Italian museum traces the detailed history of the fashions that have
followed one another, thanks also to the presence of numerous
prestigious examples of famous Italian and foreign stylists such as
Valentino, Giorgio Armani, Gianni Versace, Emilio Pucci, Ottavio
Missoni, Yves Saint Laurent, etc.
Most of the specimens come from
public and private donations, sometimes with the sale of entire
wardrobes of celebrities, of great historical as well as aesthetic
importance. This is how the clothes of the Sicilian noblewoman Franca
Fiorio, or that of Eleonora Duse, arrived. Also noteworthy is the
collection of theatrical costumes collected by Umberto Tirelli, founder
of an important tailor's shop specializing in this sector.
Among
the exceptional rarities in the museum are the funeral clothes of the
Grand Duke Cosimo I de' Medici, his wife Eleonora di Toledo and their
son Garzia, who died at the age of fifteen due to malaria. The
restoration took place in the laboratories of the same museum.
Due to the fragility of the objects on display, the collections rotate
periodically at least every two years, within a path that winds
chronologically and thematically, not counting the periodic monographic
exhibitions held in some particular rooms of the Gallery.
A
collection of 20th-century stage costume jewelery is also on display.
Access to the gallery is generally permitted at set times, with the
same ticket for the Boboli Gardens.
Women's fashion between the two wars is the theme that was tackled in
an exhibition - between 2000 and 2001 - curated by Caterina Chiarelli at
the Costume Gallery, reopened in June 2000 after a long restoration.
The exhibition "The wardrobe of a Sicilian lady" (2001) retraced the
taste and fashion of the rich Sicilian bourgeoisie - from the 1920s to
the 1950s - through the wardrobe of Mrs. Venus Musarra
In 2001, the
donation that Flora Wiechmann Savioli made to the costume gallery was
exhibited, which includes a nucleus of jewellery, dresses, abstract
paintings, fashion accessories and small family art objects.
The
exhibition "Acquisitions through the twentieth century" wanted to
enhance the new acquisitions of the gallery, without following any
thematic program. The exhibition was organized into two groups according
to the provenance of the works: the first included clothes and
accessories purchased in 2002 at an auction sale and donated by the
Florence Center for Italian Fashion, including garments labeled by
Givenchy, Yves Saint Laurent, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Jean Patou, Alaïa, but
also Gucci, Gottex and Kenzo. The second group, with more heterogeneous
origins, also includes specimens from the first half of the twentieth
century.
In 2004 the gallery hosted a significant nucleus of Coptic
dresses, from the 4th and 6th centuries AD, showing the evolution of
fashion and costume in different eras.
The Costume Gallery of Palazzo
Pitti presented, between 2007 and 2008, a selection of the Riva
collection which consists of about three thousand buttons. The button
has been the symbol of masculine elegance and has achieved spectacular
effects thanks to the use of gold, silver and precious stones.
An
exhibition was held at the Gallery dedicated to the birth of the Medici
tapestry factory, at the behest of Cosimo I, which demonstrates the
entrepreneurial spirit of the duke.
Twenty-one tapestries and
furnishing components relating to the production of Mobilier National
and the Gobelins and Beauvais factories constitute the material of an
exhibition held between 2008 and 2009 at the Costume Gallery.
The
exhibition in honor of Dianora Marandino - presented at the Costume
Gallery of Palazzo Pitti in 2011 - presented a selection of clothing
items and preparatory sketches that are part of the conspicuous
collection given as a gift by her husband, the master Enzo Faraoni .
This artist, having deliberately always remained outside of large-scale
production, is scarcely known outside the ambit of specialists in the
sector.
Between 2013 and 2014, an exhibition on the ancient
profession of the milliner who creates hats was proposed at the Costume
Gallery of Palazzo Pitti, here elevated to real works of art. In the
same period, another exhibition – curated by Caterina Chiarelli – was
dedicated to the wardrobe of some of the most influential women of the
twentieth century and to the protagonists of fashion of the last
century. Two sections were instead dedicated to wedding dresses and
woven jewels created by Rwandan women. The Costume Gallery is currently
the only museum of the history of fashion and costume in Italy.
From
1 October 2014 until 11 January 2015 the Costume Gallery of Palazzo
Pitti is the venue for the exhibition in honor of Piero Tosi. In honor
of his achievement of the Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement, they
describe him as a "visionary whose unique manners surpass time by
bringing art to life in motion pictures". The exhibition, entitled
“Tribute to Maestro Piero Tosi. The art of stage costumes from the
Tirelli Donation”, is made up of around fifteen stage costumes by Piero
Tosi; the works are exhibited in the ballroom of the museum. The set-up
was coordinated by the architect Mauro Linari and also includes a
nucleus of important historical dresses, theatrical and cinematic
costumes of great charm dating back to the rich donation by Umberto
Tirelli to the Costume Gallery in 1986. Among the stage costumes present
in the exhibition and created by the designer Tosi, we remember Medea
(directed by: Pier Paolo Pasolini), Elisabetta (Sissi) (directed by:
Luchino Visconti), Giuliana Hermil (The Innocent, directed by: Luchino
Visconti).