The Palais Galliera, also formally known as the Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris (City of Paris Fashion Museum), and formerly known as Musée Galliera, is a museum of fashion and fashion history located at 10,
avenue Pierre 1er de Serbie, in the
16th arrondissement of
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. When exhibitions are on it is open daily except Mondays and public holidays; an admission fee is charged and varies depending on the exhibition programmed. The museum opened its doors again 28 September 2013 after being closed for major renovation. Until 2021, there is no permanent presentation of the collections for conservation reasons.
Palais Galliera is one of the 14
City of Paris museums that have been incorporated since 1 January 2013, in the public institution
Paris Musées.
History
The
Duke of Galliera was a partner in the urban planning firm Thome & Cie, and owned a large parcel of land in one of the finest neighborhoods in Paris. Upon his death in 1876, his wife,
Maria Brignole Sale De Ferrari, the
Duchesse de Galliera, became heir to his immense fortune. The duchess decided that she wanted to use the land to build a museum, at her expense, to hold their works of arts. According to her wishes, a notary prepared a deed of gift to give the land parcel to the French state. However, after the gift was registered and accepted by presidential decree on 30 August 1879, it was discovered that the notary had made a serious error. Rather than donating the parcel to France, the deed was written as a gift to the City of Paris. Unable to change the deed at this point, the gift remained as written. Construction of the museum began in 1879, on an opulent design by architect
Léon Ginain, who also supervised its construction. In 1884, the Duchess gave 6.5 million francs to the City of Paris for work already done as well as funds necessary to complete it.
On 22 June 1886,
Jules Grévy and
Georges Clemenceau
Georges Benjamin Clemenceau (28 September 1841 – 24 November 1929) was a French statesman who was Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909 and again from 1917 until 1920. A physician turned journalist, he played a central role in the poli ...
convened the
Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...
of the
French Third Republic
The French Third Republic (, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940, after the Fall of France durin ...
and adopted a law expelling any person who was a direct heir of a royalist dynasty that had reigned in France. The Duchess Galliera, who had descended from the
House of Orléans
The 4th House of Orléans (), sometimes called the House of Bourbon-Orléans () to distinguish it, is the fourth holder of a surname previously used by several branches of the House of France, Royal House of France, all descended in the legitimat ...
, was outraged by the law, no less because she had already donated the
Hôtel Matignon
The Hôtel Matignon (, ) is the official residence of the Prime Minister of France. It is located in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, at 57 Rue de Varenne. The name Matignon is often used as a metonym for the governmental action of the French p ...
to France. Unable to revoke her gift of the new museum, she abandoned the rest of her planned legacy to Paris. Thus, her collection of paintings and fine art were given to
Genoa
Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...
, Italy, where they are now displayed at the
Palazzo Rosso and
Palazzo Bianco.
[
The Duchess died in December 1888, before the museum was completed, but in May 1889, her heirs gave the City of Paris 1.3 million francs to finish its construction. Léon Ginain completed the museum in February 1894, which was officially received by the city a few months later, in July. In the absence of the Galliera art collection, for which it was designed, the City of Paris used the museum for temporary displays. The first exhibition, devoted to portraits of women and lace, was inaugurated by President Félix Faure on 1 March 1895. It became a museum of industrial arts in 1902, and later, it served as space for temporary shows of modern art. The city also rented it to auctioneers for prestigious sales.][
]
The building
The Palais Galliera faces Brignole Galliera Square, immediately north of the Palais de Tokyo
The Palais de Tokyo (''Tokyo Palace'') is a building dedicated to modern and contemporary art, located at 13 avenue du Président-Wilson, facing the Trocadéro, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The eastern wing of the building belongs to ...
and one block east of the Musée Guimet
The Guimet Museum (full name in ; ''MNAAG''; ) is a Parisian art museum with one of the largest collections of Asian art outside of Asia that includes items from Cambodia, Thailand, Viet Nam, Tibet, India, and Nepal, among other countries.
Foun ...
. The architect Léon Ginain based his design on a palace that the Duchess Galliera owned in Genoa. The building is faced in cut stone in the Italian Renaissance style supported by an underframe of steel, constructed by the Eiffel Company. The mosaic floors and domes are the work of Giandomenico Facchina (1826–1904). The statues on the façade that fronts Avenue du President Wilson represent "Painting" by Henri Chapu, "Architecture" by Jules Thomas, and "Sculpture" by Peter Cavelier. In 1916, a fountain was built in front of the museum.
Fashion Museum
Since 1977, the City of Paris has operated the Palais Galliera as the Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris, a permanent museum devoted to fashion. It displays exhibits of French fashion design and costume from the eighteenth century to the present day. The museum is closed in between exhibitions.
In December 2017, the fashion historian Miren Arzalluz was named as the director of the Palais Galliera.
The museum's holdings contain about 70,000 items, and are organized as follows:
* Costumes – from the 18th century to the present, including clothes owned by Marie-Antoinette, Louis XVII
Louis XVII (born Louis Charles, Duke of Normandy; 27 March 1785 – 8 June 1795) was the younger son of King Louis XVI of France and Queen Marie Antoinette. His older brother, Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France, died in June 1789, a little over ...
, and the Empress Josephine, the dress worn by Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Kathleen Hepburn ( Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress. Recognised as a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend from the Classical Holly ...
at the Longchamp Hippodrome (1966), and displays of fashions by the leading 19th and 20th century designers including Balenciaga
Balenciaga SA ( , , ) is a Spanish Basque luxury fashion house currently headquartered in Paris. It designs, manufactures and markets ready-to-wear footwear, handbags, and accessories, and licenses its name and branding to the American cosmeti ...
, Pierre Balmain
Pierre Alexandre Claudius Balmain (; 18 May 1914 – 29 June 1982) was a French fashion designer and founder of leading post-war fashion house Balmain (fashion house), Balmain. Known for sophistication and elegance, he described the art of dre ...
, Anne-Marie Beretta, Louise Chéruit, Sonia Delaunay, Christian Dior
Christian Ernest Dior (; 21 January 1905 – 24 October 1957) was a French fashion designer and founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, Dior, Christian Dior SE. His fashion house is known all around the world, having gained promi ...
, Jacques Fath, Mariano Fortuny, Jean Paul Gaultier
Jean Paul Gaultier (; born 24 June 1952) is a French haute couture and Ready-to-wear, prêt-à-porter fashion designer.
He is described as an "enfant terrible" of the fashion industry and is known for his unconventional designs with motifs in ...
, Givenchy, Paul Poiret, Paco Rabanne
Francisco Rabaneda Cuervo (18 February 1934 – 3 February 2023), more commonly known under the pseudonym of Paco Rabanne (; ), was a Spanish-born naturalised-French fashion designer.
Rabanne rose to prominence as an ''enfant terrible'' of ...
, Yves Saint Laurent, and Elsa Schiaparelli.
* Undergarments – an excellent collection of slips, corset
A corset /ˈkɔːrsɪt/ is a support garment worn to constrict the torso into the desired shape and Posture correction, posture. They are traditionally constructed out of fabric with boning made of Baleen, whalebone or steel, a stiff panel in th ...
s, crinolines, etc.
* Accessories – including jewelry
Jewellery (or jewelry in American English) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment such as brooches, ring (jewellery), rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the ...
, canes, hat
A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...
s, fans, purses, scarves, glove
A glove is a garment covering the hand, with separate sheaths or openings for each finger including the thumb. Gloves protect and comfort hands against cold or heat, damage by friction, abrasion or chemicals, and disease; or in turn to provide a ...
s (including a pair owned by Sarah Bernhardt
Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard; 22 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including by Alexandre Dumas fils, ...
), parasol
An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy (building), canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is usually designed to protect a person against rain. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionall ...
s, and umbrella
An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is usually designed to protect a person against rain. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionally used when protec ...
s.
* Graphic arts and photography – stamps, drawings, photography, advertisements, etc.
See also
* List of museums in Paris
There are around 130 museums in Paris, France, within city limits. This list also includes suburban museums within the "Grand Paris" area, such as the Air and Space Museum.
The sixteen :fr: Musées de la Ville de Paris, museums of the City of Pari ...
References
* Hubert Demory, ''Auteuil et Passy : De l'Annexion à la Grande Guerre'', Paris:L'Harmattan,
* Béatrice de Andia, ''Le 16e : Chaillot – Passy – Auteuil : Métamorphose des trois villages'', Paris:Délégation à l'Action Artistique de la Ville de Paris,
External links
Official Palais Galliera site
*
Galliera Museum page on Paris Musées' website
*
Paris Musées official website
ParisInfo entry
{{Authority control
Museums in Paris
Buildings and structures in the 16th arrondissement of Paris
Fashion museums in France
Museums established in 1895
1895 establishments in France
Paris Musées