Fashion museums located slightly off the beaten track
Around the globe, many cities host renowned fashion museums like the Palais Galliera in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. These institutions are celebrated for their iconic fashion collections and original pieces from legendary designers. However, beyond these famous fashion-mecca destinations, there are numerous lesser-known, style-centric spots that offer powerful visual journeys and deep insights into fashion and costume design, spanning the past, present, and future.
Below, I present a curated list of unique fashion museums worldwide that blend fashion with art, culture, and architecture. Having visited most of these museums myself (all, except one!), I can assure you that each one is worth a detour from the well-trodden fashion museum path.
Explore and enjoy these unique gems of the fashion world!
BATA Shoe Museum, Canada
Located in Toronto, the Bata Shoe Museum (BSM) regularly displays over a thousand shoes and related artifacts from a collection of nearly 15,000 objects. Founded in 1995, this exceptional museum was built upon the private collection of Sonja Bata, a shoe industry executive and world traveller who spent over 50 years amassing a fantastic trove of shoes and related accessories.
Housed in an award-winning, five-story building designed by architect Raymond Moriyama, the museum offers a stylish backdrop for one of the world’s largest footwear collections. The BSM features four permanent galleries that span 4,500 years of shoe history, showcasing items from ancient Egyptian sandals and Chinese bound-foot shoes to chestnut-crushing clogs and glamorous platforms. The permanent exhibition, “All About Shoes,” reflects this extensive history, while the other three galleries host changing exhibitions, ensuring there’s always something new to see.
The museum celebrates the style, development, and function of footwear, making it a must-visit destination for shoe enthusiasts and history buffs alike.
MATE Mario Testino Museum, Peru
Perhaps not many know one of the most famous contemporary fashion photographers Mario Testino being originally from Peru, or, as called by the Peruvians – a native barranquino (coming from Barranco neighbourhood in Lima, capital of Peru). That was a new discovery for me too. Another discovery when visiting Barranco district in Lima was to come across the beautiful MATE (pronounced mAH-teh) museum, established in a glorious 19th century villa. Though quite small, this is a wonderful museum dedicated to the work of world-renowned photographer Mario Testino. The permanent exhibition features iconic portraits of Princess Diana, Kate Moss and notable actors. There are also beautiful portraits of Andean highlanders in traditional dress – I remember myself being truly impressed with this part of the exhibition.
Founded in 2012, MATE aims to bring Peruvian artists and culture to worldwide attention while offering the best of international contemporary art and photography to audiences in Lima. The museum’s vision is to create a vibrant, prosperous environment for individual expression, celebrate Peru’s contributions to arts and culture globally, and stimulate the creative industry in Peru.
Fondation Azzedine Alaïa, France
The legendary couturier Azzedine Alaïa lived a life immersed in fashion, art, design, architecture, music, and theatre. I certainly felt this during my visit to his Foundation, located in the authentic Marais district of Paris — the very place where Alaïa lived and worked. The Foundation is housed in a group of buildings surrounding an interior courtyard, landscaped with plants. At the end of the courtyard is a large exhibition gallery with a glass and ironwork roof, and on the first floor, there is a second exhibition gallery. The Foundation also includes a bookshop dedicated to fashion, art, design, and literature, and a café honoring Monsieur Alaïa’s renowned hospitality.
A passionate historian Alaïa was the world’s foremost collector of works by some of the most prestigious couturiers, including Worth, Jeanne Lanvin, Jean Patou, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Madame Grès, Paul Poiret, Gabrielle Chanel, Madeleine Vionnet, Elsa Schiaparelli, and Christian Dior. Contemporary creations are represented by pieces from Jean Paul Gaultier, Comme des Garçons, Alexander McQueen, Thierry Mugler, and Yohji Yamamoto. The Foundation’s mission is to perpetuate Azzedine Alaïa’s exceptional private collection through conservation, preservation, archiving, promotion, and public exhibition of garments, accessories, sketches, designs, drawings, and photographs.
The Fashion Museum of Antwerp (MoMu), Belgium
Located in the historical ModeNatie building on Nationalestraat, at the heart of Antwerp’s Fashion District, the Fashion Museum of Antwerp (MoMu) offers captivating fashion exhibitions and a fascinating selection of Belgian and international avant-garde fashion. Having visited MoMu more than three times, I can attest that each visit has brought a different revelation, highlighting the museum’s dynamic and ever-evolving nature.
Instead of a permanent exhibition, MoMu presents a new thematic exhibition twice a year, each characterized by immersive scenography that fully envelops visitors in the world of the designer or theme. The exhibition space is completely transformed for every exhibition, making each visit a unique experience.
MoMu’s special collection, with 35,000 pieces, is the largest and most important in the field of Belgian fashion. The museum features works from renowned designers such as Walter Van Beirendonck, Dries Van Noten, Raf Simons, Ann Demeulemeester, and Martin Margiela. These designers truly embody the spirit of MoMu, with their avant-garde fashion exhibits that visitors have the opportunity to admire in this fashion mecca.
The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, New Mexico, US
While not exclusively a fashion museum, the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture (MIAC) in Santa Fe is an intriguing destination for fashion practitioners and enthusiasts. This museum explores fashion through the lens of anthropology, showcasing its role in broader socio-cultural processes. As a premier repository of Native art and material culture, MIAC tells the stories of the people of the Southwest from pre-history through contemporary art.
I discovered this gem while strolling through the beautiful streets of Santa Fe several years ago. Its “Art of Indigenous Fashion” exhibition back then provided me with fascinating insights into the approaches and perspectives of Indigenous designers, extending beyond the visual and material qualities of their work. Indigenous designers, considered the original haute couture artists of the Americas, have been fashioning clothing and personal adornment for millennia. Historically, Indigenous garments are one-of-a-kind and custom-made.
Blending art and fashion, some designs at MIAC pose critical questions about culture and identity, reflecting the power of visual representation.
The Kobe Fashion Museum, Japan
Opened in 1997, the Kobe Fashion Museum is Japan’s first public museum dedicated to fashion. Its striking architecture is a definite head-turner. In addition to special art exhibitions, the museum hosts “collection exhibits” featuring a diverse array of clothing and accessories from 18th-century Rococo to contemporary designs. The third-floor library, which visitors can access for free, boasts around 40,000 fashion-related magazines and books from Japan and around the world.
Cristóbal Balenciaga Museum, Spain
Situated in his hometown of Getaria, the Cristóbal Balenciaga Museum is unique in the world—it is the first large museum dedicated exclusively to a fashion designer. The museum is housed in a building adjoining the Aldamar Palace, where the couturier began his career. The surroundings of the museum, a small, cozy village located right by the ocean, added to the charm of my visit there several years ago.
The permanent exhibition features a selection of 90 items, including Queen Fabiola of Belgium’s wedding dress and dresses designed for Princess Grace of Monaco. The Cristóbal Balenciaga Foundation’s collections are also exhibited temporarily, comprising of more than 1,200 models.
The museum consists of three large spaces, four floors, six galleries, and a carefully curated selection of unmatched pieces. This comprehensive collection establishes the museum as a significant tribute to one of the greatest geniuses of universal fashion. In addition to the chronological display of Balenciaga’s works, visitors will find various personal items belonging to the designer, such as garments, work instruments, letters, books, and decorative items. These artifacts invite us to move beyond the myth and imagine Cristóbal Balenciaga as he truly was, and not just as we know BALENCIAGA today.
Simone Handbag Museum, South Korea
After the closure of the famous Museum of Bags and Purses in Amsterdam, The Simone Handbag Museum in Seoul, South Korea, has left perhaps the only museum in the world dedicated exclusively to handbags.
Opened rather recently in 2012, Simone Handbag Museum has managed to present
300 bags that are on display at the museum, dating from 1550 to the present day. The museum is divided into two halves: Twentieth Century and Contemporary, and Historic (1500–1900). Most of the handbags are European in origin, with some contemporary bags from the United States.
The museum is housed in a 10-story building called Bagstage, which is shaped like a handbag “with two ‘straps’ for a ‘handle’ on the roof”. Bagstage also incorporates a shop selling bag materials, workshops where new Korean designers can work rent-free, a section where craftsmen will produce bags and two shops.
Museo Salvatore Ferragamo, Italy
Almost everyone with an interest in Italian fashion has likely visited or heard of the two Italian meccas: Fondazione Prada in Milan and the Gucci Museum in Florence. However, the Museo Salvatore Ferragamo in Florence is another gem that deserves attention. This museum splendidly tells the story of the Ferragamo brand through shoes, photos, and more. The Ferragamo collection boasts over 14,000 shoes, many of which are on display here!
Founded by the Ferragamo family in May 1995, the museum aims to acquaint an international audience with the artistic qualities of Salvatore Ferragamo and his significant role in the history of footwear and international fashion. Since 2006, to ensure the museum remains as dynamic as the company itself, its exhibition structure has been modified annually to focus on different research themes. These themes, starting from Salvatore Ferragamo’s experiences, life, creations, and the customers he served, provide an indirect exploration of the Ferragamo world. Each exhibition is combined with other cultural expressions such as art, architecture, design, economic and social history, and philosophy, resulting in a museum that continuously evolves with different setups and content each year.
Museo Frida Kahlo, Mexico
Frida Kahlo’s Casa Azul (Blue House) is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Mexico City. In April 2004, the museum curator opened the closets that had been locked since the Mexican artist’s death in 1954. Inside were over 300 items belonging to Frida Kahlo, still carrying the scent of her perfume and the remnants of the last cigarette she smoked. The items included a wide array of jewellery, dresses, shoes, corsets, shawls (rebozos), embroideries, and other garments, representing a lifetime of attire integral to her public persona. These clothes are featured in an exhibition at Casa Azul titled “Appearances Can Be Deceiving: The Dresses of Frida Kahlo” showcasing the remarkable richness of the discovery.
Art historians and fashion enthusiasts already recognized Frida’s uniqueness and forward-thinking style. However, the items in this exhibit reveal that despite her disabilities, monobrow, and the violent depictions of the female anatomy in some of her paintings, Frida Kahlo had a feminine side. She wore makeup, used perfume, and even adorned her prosthetic leg with a red high-heeled boot. Her clothing was not only about style and self-protection but also made strong political and cultural statements.
Text author & photos: Aušra Juozapaitytė
