For the third issue of ‘Meeting Fashion Heritage’, the column intended to present to the public the marvels of fashion heritage via its keepers, we virtually visit the Centralne Muzeum Włókiennictwa – the Central Museum of Textiles – located in Łódź, Poland

The Central Museum of Textiles in Łódź is the Europe’s largest museum dedicated to textiles and all aspects of textile technology. Its exceedingly rich and varied collections make the Museum an extraordinary, interdisciplinary place which combines technology, industry, art, design, fashion, history of the region and cultural anthropology.

The Museum is located in the complex of classicist buildings dated back to the 19th century erected by the family of Ludwik Geyer, one of the pioneers of the textile industry in Poland. It is considered one of the most beautiful and unique monuments of industrial architecture.

The collection of more than 20 000 inventory items allow visitors to discover the secrets of the textile industry from many angles. The collection of textile tools and machinery helps to understand manufacturing process and its final products from nineteenth and twentieth can be found in the industrial fabric collection. The visitors can also see the rich assortment of vintage antique fabrics and the collection of contemporary artistic textiles which is one of the largest in the world.

Another very important part of the Museum is the collection of clothing which allows to track changes that took place in the twentieth and twenty-first century fashion, the ethnographic collection presenting folk weaving of the 19th and 20th centuries, the collection of documents and souvenirs associated with the history of the textile industry and the collection of archival records. Other significant group of historical objects is the collection of examples of material culture related to the daily life of inhabitants of Łódź and its surroundings in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries which can be found in the Open Air Museum of Łódź Wooden Architecture.

Apart from permanent display, the Museum also offers a wide range of educational workshops, conferences and temporary exhibitions dedicated to fashion and design. Since 1972, the Museum has been regularly organizing a prestigious exhibition event, International Triennial of Tapestry, the biggest and oldest event of this kind.

The museum is very active on social media, and a showcase of objects and activities can be found on Instagram and Facebook.