Musée de la Mode et du Costume – Fragonard

The Musée de la Mode et du Costume – Fragonard gives Arles a museum that connects architecture, dress history and regional identity. Housed in the Hôtel Bouchaud de Bussy, a historic townhouse on rue de la Calade, the museum occupies a building whose layered history is itself part of the story. Acquired by Fragonard in 2019, the property underwent several years of restoration before opening to the public in July 2025.

The museum brings together collections associated with the Costa family and the Pascal family, including Provençal costume, jewellery and textile pieces that trace the clothing traditions of the French Mediterranean from the eighteenth century onward. This matters particularly in Arles, where dress has long formed part of local identity: the figure of the Arlésienne, with her distinctive silhouette, textiles and rituals of appearance, belongs to the cultural memory of the city as much as its Roman monuments or photographic institutions.

Its significance is also architectural. The restoration of the Hôtel Bouchaud de Bussy and the museum design by Studio KO place the collection within a setting that respects the building’s historic fabric while giving the displays a contemporary clarity.

For NOTES, the museum matters because it is a double act of preservation: the recovery of an Arlesian townhouse and the public presentation of a private costume archive. It strengthens Arles as a city where heritage, craft, fashion and contemporary cultural ambition continue to meet.