São Paulo – The dressing styles of queens and princesses of Ancient Egypt is shown in a fashion museum opened late last year in Canela, a tourist city in Gaúcha Mountain Range. The Fashion Museum (MUM) presents the history of female fashion and its collection could not exclude the Arab country, considered the crib of civilisation. "They are woven articles, made by seamstresses, assembled by hand,” said stylist Milka Wolff, creator and owner of the enterprise, regarding the Egyptian items.
The clothes that are included in the collection were made by the stylist’s team to grant an idea of how women dressed at a certain time. In the past, for example, they were wrapped in cloth and this style was followed by Wolf to recall Egypt. The material used was wool and cotton. Necklaces were made by guest artists out of coloured glass and bronze, says the mentor of the Brazilian Fashion Museum, which she runs alongside her husband, Fernando Becker.
The museum tells the story of fashion through time, from Antiquity, Middle Age, Enlightenment, Renaissance, the Napoleonic Period, the Belle Époqe and Avant Garde to the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and early 21st century. Each period has an individual space within the museum, with appropriate music for the time. Furthermore, there are other attractions specific Furthermore, there are other attractions unique to the site, like antiques, French lampshades and fire places and dolls of princess Diana. The tables at the café have legs of Singer sewing machines.
The idea of establishing the museum came from Wolff, who has worked in fashion for 56 years. “I was always surprised to see that there was no museum telling the history of fashion,” she says, recalling that the existing initiatives, including those abroad, are normally segmented, as is the case with Dior Museum, in France, which shows the brand’s history and articles. Wolff, then, after three years of research and production, opened the doors of the Brazilian Fashion Museum on the road that connects Canela and Gramado, another tourist city in Gaúcha Mountain Range.
The museum covers an area of 3,400 square meters and will officially be inaugurated on Friday (23), with the presence of state governor Tarso Genro. The space, however, has been operating since December and, according to Wolff, has already received around 10,000 visitors. There are many groups of university students who go there, and also foreigners. The museum has already received groups from Switzerland, France, Italy, the United States, Argentina, Uruguay, Spain and Chile, among others.
Explanations regarding the history of fashion are in Portuguese and English. The space is one more attraction for tourists visiting the Gaúcha Mountain Range. Making use of this flow was one of the objectives of the project, explained Wolff. In the winter alone, the region usually receives one million tourists. The stylist, who grew up in the city of Bagé, in Rio Grande do Sul, operates in haute couture and also in the trade of antiquities.
Service
Fashion Museum – MUM
Telephone: (+55 54) 3282-1121
Address: Av. Ernani Kroeff Fleck, 1810 – Canela – RS
Site: www.museudemodadecanela.com.br
E-mail: milka@milka.com.br
Admittance: R$ 30 (adults) and R$ 15 (children and senior citizens)
*Translated by Mark Ament
