Preventive conservation and restoration workshops

The Palais Galliera's storerooms and preventive conservation and restoration workshops are one of Europe's largest in this category, covering a surface area of 6,300 m2 spread over three levels.

The space is divided into two separate sections: the workshops and the storerooms on the ground floor, the item storage area in the basements.

The different areas

The workshops comprise different spaces split up based on the journey a costume has taken since it arrived in the storeroom:

• A transition room.
• A restoration room divided into two separate rooms:

- The "wet room", where all tasks using water and solvents are carried out. This room is equipped, in particular, with a washing table, a glass table for laying textiles correctly with their straight grain, equipment for dyeing backing fabrics and an extractor hood for the use of solvents.
- The "dry room", where the other tasks and a review of the items are carried out. It is equipped with tailor-made furniture and has artificial daylight lighting. Movable tables and storage areas take up most of this room, where sewing work for the storage and exhibition media is also carried out.

•  A dust removal room where micro-vacuuming is carried out when works are placed in storage or once they are returned after an exhibition.
• A quarantine room.
• A photographic studio.
• An equipment storage room.
• A mannequin modelling room.
• Items can only be stored under optimal special conditions that comply with international standards established by ICOM (International Council of Museums): atmosphere that is constantly at 50% relative humidity and with a temperature of 18°C, air filtering to avoid as much dust as possible and protection of the items in covers and packaging made of neutral materials.

The storerooms, in the basements, are organized to house all the museum's collections while strictly complying with the aforementioned conservation conditions. The items, grouped together by historic period, by volumes, by series and by labels, are hung or laid flat depending on how fragile they are. They are housed in metal furniture and are hidden away in a labyrinth of bays. The items, enclosed in drawers under covers made of cotton called "aged" cotton, protected from the light and from dust, are kept out of sight.

The specially designed furniture is made of metal with a hot epoxy paint finish. This furniture is left open so that the works stored within are better ventilated and is split into two storage systems: the garments are hung in the upper section, when they can withstand this method of storage, or kept flat in the drawers in the lower section when they are too fragile or their weight and structure mean they cannot be hung.

Restoring

The general principles of textile restoration are identical to those of any work of art: legibility, visibility, compatibility and reversibility of procedures. This curative action is a complex one that is carried out for the sake of conservation: the aim is not to recreate, but to consolidate a work by ensuring its durability and integrity. Only reversible techniques are used: what has been done must be able to be undone later with the least possible damage to the item. The restorers work on the items themselves and are assisted in specific tasks by other members of the team, in particular for dyeing and preparing the backing fabrics.

The time taken to work on an item varies greatly, and can take up to 3-4 months. When required, the textile restorers draw up specifications for external restorers and monitor their work hand-in-hand with the conservator.

The launch of a collection project devoted to accessories in 2009 led to recruiting a restorer specifically for this collection. Given the array of materials (leather, wood, metal, straw, ivory, tortoiseshell, etc.) involved in the creation of these works, the museum chose to work with a rotation of specialist restorers. Following an initial campaign dedicated to metal, the team now includes a restorer who specializes in leather and paper, materials used in a number of items including bags, fans and footwear.

The restoration of a costume comprises two key stages:

1. Cleaning :
   Each stage of cleaning must be carried out with care. When micro-vacuuming, the soft brush used to lift the dust and the suction force must be tailored to the fragile nature of the piece. Washing with demineralized water or solvent, plus a small percentage of neutral detergent, is a cumbersome procedure that can only be carried out in rare cases. The final stage in the cleaning process is reshaping the item when placed flat, using glass plates, weights or steam without adding heat. Ironing is forbidden as an iron crushes and damages the textile fibre and, as such, causes irreversible damage.
    
2. Consolidation (Sewing):
   This task is carried out using backing or protective textiles, suitable for the work and dyed in the Department. The backing textile, lining the original fabric, relieves the latter of some tension. Consolidation (sewing) is carried out using a curved needle with stitches specific to the item being restored.
    

Conserving

Textiles are highly-fragile organic materials. The state of conservation of each of the works in the collection varies greatly. This state depends, first of all, on the type and quality of the materials included in the costume and, secondly, on the 'journey' the costume has made up to the present day, i.e. how it has 'lived' its 'life'. The same issues are found in the various materials used in accessories.

Preventive conservation addresses the causes of deterioration and damage whether it concerns the storage, display, handling or shipping of a work. It must ensure the longevity and integrity of the works by protecting them from natural or accidental deterioration and damage. This is a guideline that applies to all the Department's activities: keep handling to a minimum, take into account the fragile nature of the items, use suitable materials/equipment to conserve them.

Its main aim is to take an interest in as many works as possible, by tackling the causes rather than the effects of deterioration and damage; as such, it involves indirect action on the collection (packaging, monitoring the climate in storage, etc.).

Exhibiting

Textiles are highly-sensitive to light, which makes their colours fade and even speeds up the fibre ageing process. A costume that has been exposed to light of 50 lux maximum for four months must remain in storage for 4 years away from any source of light. Two stages are to be carried out before a costume can be displayed in an exhibition: restoration and modelling, i.e. placing the costume and shaping it on a mannequin.

In order to be exhibited, a garment must be strong enough to withstand handling and display on a mannequin for several months. Once consolidated, the costume can be placed on the mannequin. This task can take up to a whole day's work per item when dealing with complex pieces. When an exhibition is being set up, the team carries out mannequin modelling work for a month. The aim is not only to recreate the silhouette of a given period, but also to support the costumes for the duration of the exhibition. These costumes, which may be heavy and occasionally altered, have to support their own weight for several months, a use for which they were not originally intended. And, this is why some costumes must be displayed flat. Mannequins use chemically-neutral materials suitable for conservation (polyester wadding, neutral cardboard, polyester film, polyethylene foam, etc.).

Mannequin modelling is a delicate alchemy between tangible data like dress measurements and abstract data such as the spirit of the times. Good mannequin modelling must combine padding techniques with knowledge of the history of costume and ever-changing silhouettes. Studying dress cutting, tailoring and assembling provides valuable information, which is complemented by reviewing iconographic documents from the times. As such, shapes and attitudes characteristic of the period can be identified, while remaining aware of the difference between image and reality.

Fashion accessories are subject to the same requirements. It is vital to understand the item, to determine its weaknesses in order to create the most suitable display medium. Every work displayed is the subject of a study to create a mount that ensures it can be viewed optimally and promoted, all the while taking its specific structural features and weaknesses into account.