Costume Institute Conservation

The Costume Institute’s conservation department supports an active curatorial program of exhibitions, publications, and loans through its preservation, conservation, and technical research of the 33,000 objects in The Costume Institute’s collection, spanning from the fifteenth century to present.

The complex construction of garments and accessories, with diverse and sometimes incompatible materials joined into a single object, complicates their preservation. Consumable and ever-changing, fashionable clothing is seldom made with a primary concern for longevity. Cutting-edge designers often experiment with innovative materials that have unknown and unpredictable aging properties. Since most garments require the presence of a body to realize their intended appearance, conservation treatments and mounts must restore structural integrity and dimensionality to the garment as worn while not interfering with the natural drape of the fabric.

Conservators in The Costume Institute excel in the practices and theories of costume and textile conservation, with specific expertise in haute couture garment construction, the creation of custom mounts for storage and exhibition, digital documentation methods, and technical analyses. They are responsible for setting guidelines for the storage, handling, and display of the collection. They are also active in conservation education, providing lectures for specialized groups, students, and the public. The department was a forerunner in establishing a robust integrated pest management program and a key collaborator in the creation of the museum’s freezer facility for pest mitigation.