Palais Galliera, Paris Fashion Museum

Since 1977 the Palais Galliera has housed the City of Paris fashion museum, whose collection of nearly 200,000 pieces runs from the 18th century to the present day: clothing, accessories, photographs and graphic arts. There is no permanent display: the museum only opens during its exhibitions, which take turns in the palace's main rooms and, since 2020, in the Gabrielle Chanel galleries, set up in the former vaulted cellars. The palace stands on the Chaillot hill, opposite the Palais de Tokyo and the Musée d'Art moderne de Paris. At the end of September 2026 two exhibitions are open: "Un vestiaire à soi. Féminités dissidentes au 19e siècle" (A Wardrobe of One's Own), from 26 September 2026 to 14 February 2027, and "Tisser, broder, sublimer. Les savoir-faire de la mode" (Weaving, Embroidering, Embellishing), in the Gabrielle Chanel galleries until 18 October 2026. This first part of a trilogy on the crafts of fashion brings together more than 350 pieces around weaving, printing, embroidery, lace and artificial flowers.

Highlights

"Un vestiaire à soi. Féminités dissidentes au 19e siècle"

From 26 September 2026 to 14 February 2027, nearly 500 works show how 19th-century women made the male wardrobe their own: trousers, tailored suits, cravats, bow ties, top hats. The exhibition includes the complete wardrobe of the painter Rosa Bonheur and 150 amateur photographs shown for the first time.

The palace and its decoration

The palace was built between 1879 and 1894 by the architect Léon Ginain for Maria Brignole-Sale, Duchess of Galliera, modelled on a palace she owned in Genoa. On the garden façade, three statues represent Painting, Architecture and Sculpture. In front of it, the Fontaine de l'Avril by the sculptor Pierre Roche dates from 1916.

The Square Brignole-Galliera

The garden around the palace is free to enter, even without a ticket. Its flower beds, benches and 19th-century statues offer a quiet break between the Trocadéro and the Pont de l'Alma, with a view of the Eiffel Tower.

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