Fashion & Lace Museum

The museum consists of two exhibitions, a permanent one on lace and a temporary one on the theme of fashion.

The permanent collection:

The Brussels Fashion & Lace Museum holds 20,000 pieces of lace, clothing and accessories dating from the 16th century to the present day. It presents its collections on a rotating basis, through annual exhibitions.
The Museum's collections are made up of private donations or purchases.

Strict standards govern the conservation of textiles. They aim to regulate the heat, light and humidity in the rooms where they are displayed. The collections cannot therefore be displayed permanently.

The Fashion & Lace Museum is the only Belgian museum that exhibits Brussels lace. This fabric made the reputation of the city until the 19th century.

In 1977, the city dedicated a museum to it to present it in its context: the Museum of Costume and Lace. Since then, the collections have continued to grow. They offer a panorama of Western European civilian fashion from the 18th century to the present day.

In October 2017, on the occasion of its 40th anniversary, the Musée du Costume et de la Dentelle became the Fashion & Lace Museum , a new name to reinforce the dialogue between fashion and history.

The temporary exhibition:

The museum presents different works and textiles on the theme of fashion.

At the end of an exhibition, the museum closes its doors to the public in order to dismantle the finished exhibition and mount the next one. It is therefore important to check the dates of the exhibitions in order to anticipate your visit.

The museum organises visits adapted to the type of disability.

Strong points

Staff

A reference person is present to welcome and accompany the persons with special needs.
There is staff available to help negotiate obstacles.
There is staff available to direct and guide.
The staff has received training for the reception of persons with special needs.

Safety

The structure of the location is simple and makes it possible to find the way and orient oneself easily.

Identification

The building is easy to find.

The museum has a wheelchair-accessible entrance via an alley, but this is not accessible on Sundays.

Currently, the only part of the museum that is wheelchair accessible is the permanent exhibition, which is accessible via the PRM entrance. The rest of the museum (reception, toilets, temporary exhibition) is not wheelchair accessible.

We advise you to prepare your visit by contacting the museum.

Strong points

Parking

There is at least 1 reserved parking space less than 100 metres from the entrance.

Access road from the street

Most of the transit areas are sufficiently large.

Entrance

The building is easy to identify.

Home

The payment device is easy to use.
The free space in front of the counter is sufficiently big.
The counter is at the correct height.

Horizontal circulation

The floor is regular and free of obstacles.
The width of the pathways is sufficient.

Vertical circulation

There is a lift.

Exposition

The majority of the content of the exhibition is accessible and visible.

Points of attention

Access road from the street

The floor is irregular.
The floor is hardly passable in some places.
The doors can be crossed with help.
The signage is insufficient for orientation.

Entrance

The main entrance is not accessible and the alternative entrance is hard to find.
There is no doorbell at the entrance and the staff does not see the persons wanting to enter.

Horizontal circulation

There are several steps to negotiate.

Vertical circulation

The lift does not serve all the floors open to the public.
The width of the lift door is between 80 and 85 cm.
Help is needed to open the door.

Adapted sanitary

The toilet is not properly equipped.
The toilet is not properly signalled.

The main entrance is made up of two steps.

Strong points

Parking

There is at least 1 reserved parking space less than 100 metres from the entrance.

Access road from the street

Most of the transit areas are sufficiently large.
The floor is regular.

Entrance

The entrance is easy to identify.
The building is easy to identify.

Home

Seats are available near the reception.
Seat sticks are available.

Horizontal circulation

There are a few steps, equipped with a handrail, to negotiate.
Circulation is easy almost everywhere.
The floor is regular and free of obstacles.
The width of the hallways is sufficient.
There are seats along the pathway.

Vertical circulation

There is a grab bar in the lift.

Adapted sanitary

There is a sink in the adapted toilet.

Exposition

All the content of the exhibition is accessible.
There are seats in every space of the exhibition.
Seat sticks are available.

Points of attention

Entrance

The staff does not see the persons who arrive.
The passage width of the door measures between 80 and 85 cm.

Vertical circulation

The staircases are not secure.
The lift does not serve all the floors open to the public.
The width of the lift door is between 80 and 85 cm.

Adapted sanitary

The toilet is not properly signalled.

Strong points

Guide dog

Assistance dogs are accepted.

Home

The reception is in a quiet environment.
The reception has no glass partition.
The staff sees the persons coming into the building and can assist them.
The reception is located in the logical continuation of the pathway.

Exposition

Adapted guided tours are organised upon reservation.

Points of attention

Entrance

There is no device allowing the identification of the entrance.
There is no doorbell at the entrance and the staff does not see the persons wanting to enter.

Horizontal circulation

There is at least one non-secured step in the logical pathway.
The pathway presents punctually a passage height of less than 2m.

Vertical circulation

The staircases include a non-secure handrail.
The staircases are not secured by warning tiles at their top.

Exposition

Only a small part of the exhibition content is adapted (touch, smell, hearing).

Strong points

Entrance

The entrance is easy to identify.

Home

A reference person is present to welcome the persons with special needs.
The staff sees the persons coming into the building and can assist them.
The reception is located in the logical continuation of the pathway.
The reception is in a quiet environment.

Vertical circulation

The lift can be used in autonomy or staff is available to help.

Exposition

Adapted guided tours are organised upon reservation.

Points of attention

Entrance

There is no doorbell at the entrance and the staff does not see the persons wanting to enter.

Horizontal circulation

The glass walls and doors are not secured by a contrasting visual marking.
The lack of contrast between the floor and the walls makes it difficult to circulate.
The pathway presents punctually a passage height of less than 2m.
There is at least one non-secured step in the logical pathway.

Vertical circulation

The lighting is not sufficient in the staircases.
The stair steps are not contrasting.
The staircases include a non-secure handrail.
The staircases are not secure.
The floor numbers are not clearly indicated at each landing.

Exposition

The written explanations are hard to read.
The majority of works are displayed in display cases.

Strong points

Parking

The car park is freely accessible.

Entrance

The entrance is easy to find.
The building is easy to find.
The opening hours are displayed next to the door.

Home

The reception is open, well lit and allows lip reading.
The reception is easy to find and close to the entrance.
The institution can be contacted in writing: text or email.
The rates are displayed in the reception.
The premises are easy to understand.

Wireless

It is possible to connect to the mobile networks, 3G or 4G.

Adapted sanitary

It is possible to see whether a toilet is occupied or free.

Exposition

The displayed content is mainly visual.
A visit in Belgian French sign language is scheduled regularly.

Points of attention

Entrance

There is no doorbell.
The staff does not see the persons who arrive.

Home

There is no staff member practicing sign language.

Light

Badly lit areas make lip reading difficult.

Exposition

Badly lit areas make lip reading difficult.

Strong points

Parking

The car park is freely accessible.

Entrance

The entrance is easy to find.
The building is easy to find.
The opening hours are displayed next to the door.

Home

The reception is located in a quiet environment.
There is an induction loop in the reception.
The reception is open, well lit and allows lip reading.
The reception is easy to find and close to the entrance.
The institution can be contacted in writing: text or email.
The rates are displayed in the reception.

Adapted sanitary

It is possible to see whether a toilet is occupied or free.

Exposition

The environment is calm.
An adapted visit is scheduled regularly.
The displayed content is mainly visual.

Points of attention

Entrance

There is no doorbell.
The staff does not see the persons who arrive.

Light

Badly lit areas make lip reading difficult .

Exposition

There is no easy to read support.
Badly lit areas make lip reading difficult .

Because of the works, the light in the exhibition corridors is very weak.

The temporary exhibition can be very destabilizing in the circulations: low luminosity, coloured decorations projected on the ground, a lot of information in the works and their installation, forms, colours, ...

We advise you to prepare your visit by contacting the museum.