MoMu, the fashion museum in Antwerp with a strong international reputation, has been undergoing an ambitious renovation and expansion, and will be reopening its doors to the general public over the weekend of 4 and 5 September 2021. Thanks to the renovation, MoMu will be open continuously for the first time and will be able to devote itself to a varied programme at all times.

Kaat Debo, Director and Chief Curator MoMu: “We want to push the meaning of fashion in the museum. Move beyond the canonized narratives of fashion history. Fashion needs a place for reflection and criticism. A haven to calmly observe the philosophy and dynamics behind fashion, its history and its future. A place to explore what fashion is, and what it does with people.”

B-architecten are in charge of the modifications to optimise the infrastructure. They will respect Marie-José Van Hee’s original signature, so MoMu’s spacious entrance hall and its sculptural wooden staircase, that have been eye-catchers since 2002, will remain untouched.
Roughly 800m2 of additional public space will be created, including the museum’s own café and shop and a permanent exhibition hall for the permanent collection. These will ensure that visitors can also visit MoMu while thematic exhibitions are being changed, and that during peak times the museum can simultaneously display three different exhibitions in the 2.000m2. There will be an auditorium with retractable stage enabling the museum to put on more readings, conferences and Q&A sessions.
MoMu’s library will be expanded with infrastructure for the museum’s study collection, so that besides reading the books and magazines, visitors can also study and handle the objects. 
Behind the scenes, the depots and restoration studios will be completely renewed, which will allow the museum to store its collections and archives for future generations in a high-quality infrastructure under the best possible conditions.

The collection consists of clothing, accessories, and textiles, as well as more unexpected pieces such as tools, machines for textile production, patterns, and fashion show invitations. MoMu's collection policy focuses on the work of Belgian designers and alumni of the Fashion Department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. Prominent names from the contemporary international fashion world are also represented in the collection.

The collection grows every year through acquisitions, loans, and numerous donations, and now consists of over 35,000 pieces. This makes the MoMu collection the largest and most important collection of contemporary Belgian fashion in the world. The museum continually receives international loan requests for pieces from its designer collection.
MoMu's historical collection of Western European costume and textile is a continuation of the collection of the former Costume and Textile Museum Vrieselhof.

In 2011, the historical collection was enlarged with an important acquisition. Over 2,000 objects from the 18th, 19th, and first half of the 20th century were acquired from the private collection of Ms. Jacoba de Jonge, complementing the existing MoMu collection.

In addition to the fashion and costume collection, the museum also houses a vast library collection. The MoMu library is an academic library for historical and contemporary fashion, textiles, and ethnic costume. With over 15,000 books, an archive full of valuable reference works, hundreds of contemporary and historical magazines, and a fast-growing digital database of images, the MoMu library is one of the top in its field worldwide.