The collection of the Museum of Fashion and Costume, which originates from the research and travels of Franca Meo, poet and writer, is made up of about 5,000 pieces, including clothing, accessories, hats, handkerchiefs, parasols, fans, gloves, jewelry, underwear and household linen, sacred vestments, work tools, children's clothing and toys, chronologically dating from the mid-eighteenth century to the birth of high fashion in the twentieth century. A nucleus of ethnic clothing from the 19th and 20th centuries enriches the museum's collection.
Among the materials that make up the rich collections are also: historical photos, antique prints, postcards and figurines from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, which constitute a specific section of iconographic documents on the evolution of clothing taste in the modern age.
Since 1995, the year in which the Museum of Women and Children was inaugurated, the historical and artistic patrimony of the renovated Museum of Fashion and Costume has been enriched by numerous important private donations.
The Collection is the result of a constant search for garments that best represent and interpret the history of Italian Fashion and beyond. In 2012, new Haute Couture garments have joined the Collection, including labels by Capucci, Fendi, Valentino, Sorelle Fontana, Versace, Roberta di Camerino, Ferrè and Balenciaga.
The exhibition itinerary, part of which is periodically reformulated in line with the various special events promoted by the Museums, is divided into five sections:
