The Costume Gallery throws open its doors to an artefact designed not to go unnoticed.

This is a monographic show devoted to the hat. The museum indeed possesses collections – deriving from the generosity of numerous donors – amounting to over a thousand exemplars, normally stored in the repositories and only a part of which is destined to the exhibition. 

Despite the prevalence of famous fashion houses, including Christian Dior, Givenchy, Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, John Rocha, Prada, Gianfranco Ferré and celebrated international milliners of the past and present such as Philip Treacy, Stephen Jones, Caroline Reboux, Claude Saint-Cyr, Paulette, it is also the first time that creations by Italian and Florentine milliners whose existence was hardly known of have been put on display. 

A contribution to the show, sponsored by the Ministry for Culture and Tourism and the Direzione Regionale per i Beni Culturali e Paesaggistici della Toscana, the Soprintendenza Speciale per il Patrimonio Storico, Artistico ed Etnoantropologico e per il Polo Museale della città di Firenze, the Costume Gallery of the Pitti Palace and Firenze Musei, has also been made by the Il Cappello di Firenze Consortium. Indeed, the display includes some of the most characteristic exemplars from the leading Tuscan hat manufacturers, heirs to the ancient craft manufacture of the Florentine Straw Hat.