In December 2015 the Museo del Tessuto di Prato celebrates its 40th birthday. For the occasion, Fondazione Museo del Tessuto relies on its heritage, the result of hundreds of large and small donations that prove how deeply rooted the institution is in the local community, and in the wider community of lovers of fabrics and fashion.

The temporary exhibition opens to the public on 22 November in the Hall of Antique Fabrics, the Schatzkammer (treasure chamber) of the museum, with an area of 400 square meters.

The exhibition Heritage is a voyage through the museum’s collections, opening its vaults to display fabrics and fashion through a selection of works of great interest and value, recently acquired and restored. A large anthology of textiles, garments and accessories, sample books, figurines and vintage fashion magazines, original sketches for clothes and rare editions of books, from the 1500s to the 1970s.

A focus on objects, but also on the incredible stories they often bring with them: stories of people, collections, techniques, manufacturing processes and coloring substances, styles and decorative motifs, which the Museum narrates in the exhibition and a calendar of activities focused precisely on storytelling, the narration of works and of fashion in general.

The birthday is also an opportunity for the museum to rethink its function: created as a collection for specialized training in the textile sector, over the last fifteen years the museum has widened its audience, opening the collections to visitors, schools, children, families, adults, and visitors with special needs.