Museo del Traje

The Museo del Traje, formally the Museum of Garment, Center for Ethnological Heritage Research, is a national museum and research center in Madrid, Spain. Attached to the Ministry of Culture and managed by the General Directorate of Fine Arts and Cultural Heritage, it promotes the knowledge of the historical evolution of clothing and fashion, alongside the ethnological heritage of the cultures of Spain. With holdings exceeding 160,000 pieces and documents, its collections span from the Middle Ages to contemporary Spanish fashion design, serving as a key institution for understanding the sociological, artistic, and industrial significance of garments.

The institution originated with the Historic Regional Costume Exhibition, held in Madrid in 1925. Initiated by Trinidad von Scholtz Hermensdorff and organized by a committee of intellectuals and nobles, with Luis de Hoyos Sainz as technical director, the exhibition gathered 348 regional and historical costumes, 3,914 garments, 668 photographs, and 237 watercolors. During the opening address, the Count of Romanones proposed making the exhibition permanent. In 1927, a Board of Trustees was established to form the Regional Costume and History Museum. After relocations to the former Hospice and the Palace of the Marquis of Grimaldi, the institution merged with the Lace Museum and the Museum of Popular Art in 1934 to form the Museum of the Spanish Village. Although slated to open earlier, the Spanish Civil War delayed its public opening until 1940. In 1993, the Museum of the Spanish Village and the National Museum of Ethnology united as the National Museum of Anthropology, though they operated independently. Following discussions to enhance public access to the costume collections, the institution was refounded in 2004 as the Museo del Traje.

The museum's holdings encompass historical garments, regional dress, and contemporary fashion, totaling over 160,000 items and documents. The initial core comprised the 1925 exhibition donations, the collections of the Seminar of Ethnography and Popular Arts of the Teaching School, and domestic objects and tools acquired between 1934 and 1936. Beyond clothing, the collections include musical instruments, spinning and weaving tools, furniture, pastoral art, and traditional games. The permanent exhibition follows a rotation plan and is organized into five thematic sections: Evolution, Ritual Festivities, Commercial Icons, Survivals and Identity, and Exaltation of Wealth. The museum also features a monographic area dedicated to Mariano Fortuny and a multisensory space adapted for the visually impaired that explores the evolution of the silhouette and historical garment transformations.

Located in the University City of Madrid at Avenida Juan de Herrera 2, the museum occupies a building designed by architects Jaime López de Asiaín and Ángel Díaz Domínguez. Conceived following the specifications of the 1968 Congress of Museological Architecture, the project won the National Prize for Architecture in 1969. Construction began in 1971 and concluded in 1973, with the building's inauguration following in 1975. Originally built to house the Spanish Museum of Contemporary Art, the structure features a tower set upon a large horizontal elevated base, allowing visitors to walk beneath into a shaded courtyard with a monumental staircase, with glass pavilions set between the ground and the upper building. After the contemporary art museum departed in 1992, the building lay unused until a 21 million euro restoration in 2005 adapted it for the Museo del Traje. Further renovations occurred in 2004 and 2020, with galleries reopening in October 2021.

The Museo del Traje is open Tuesday to Saturday from 9:30 to 19:00, and Sundays and holidays from 10:00 to 15:00. During July and August, Thursday hours extend to 22:30. The museum is closed on Mondays, January 1, May 1 and 15, and December 24, 25, and 31. Free admission is available on Saturday afternoons from 14:30, all Sundays, and specific dates including April 18, May 18, October 12, and December 6. Access to temporary exhibitions is always free. The museum features a 1,000 square meter library on the first floor with 36 reading seats, offering documentation on anthropology, ethnological heritage, and fashion history, accessible via a digitized catalog. Directed by Helena López de Hierro d'Aubarède under the Ministry of Culture, the museum welcomed 113,017 visitors in 2024.