Museo del Traje facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Museum of Garment - Ethnologic Heritage Research Center

Museo del Traje - Centro de Investigación del Patrimonio Etnológico
Location	Madrid, Spain

The Museum of Garment - Ethnologic Heritage Research Center (in Spanish: Museo del Traje - Centro de Investigación del Patrimonio Etnológico) is a museum in Madrid, Spain. It focuses on fashion and clothing from different times. The museum has a huge collection of over 160,000 items. These include clothes and documents. You can see fashion from the Middle Ages up to clothes by today's Spanish designers. The building was finished in 1973. It was declared an important cultural site in 1962.

How the Museum Started

The current Museum of Garment opened in 2004. But its story began much earlier, in 1925. That year, there was a special show called the Historic Costume Exhibition. During this event, a person called the Count of Romanones suggested making the temporary show a permanent museum.

Two years later, in 1927, a group was formed to manage the museum's items. They took care of the clothes from the exhibition. This led to the creation of the Regional Costume Museum and History.

In 1934, the Count had another idea. He wanted to create a new museum for these collections. This new place would also show the traditions of the Spanish people. It was called the Museum of the Spanish Village. This museum collected items about Spanish culture and folk art.

Over the years, the collections moved to different buildings. In 1983, they moved into the building that now houses the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. Later, in 1993, the Museum of the Spanish Village joined with the National Museum of Ethnology. They formed one institution called the National Museum of Anthropology. However, both parts still worked somewhat separately.

Finally, in 2002, people discussed the museum's future. They decided to focus on the clothing collection. They wanted to show it in a modern way to the public. This led to the creation of the Museum of Garment as we know it today.

The Museum Building

The building where the museum is located is special. The architect, Jaime López de Asiaín, won a national award for its design in 1969. Construction started in 1971 and finished in 1973. The building officially opened in 1975.

It was first built for the Spanish Museum of Contemporary Art (MEAC). This museum later became the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. After the MEAC moved out in 1992, the building was empty for a while.

In 2005, the building was renovated. This cost 21 million euros. After the renovation, it became the new home for the Museum of Garment. The building has a tall tower and a large horizontal part. This horizontal part holds the main museum sections. The whole building is raised above the ground. This allows visitors to walk underneath it into a shaded courtyard. There are also glass areas between the ground and the building above.

Gallery

See also

In Spanish: Museo del Traje (Madrid) para niños