Wool and Fashion Tourism Center

• general informations
• collections
• activities

Established in order to preserve a record of the administrative life and textile industry of the city of Verviers, one of the first continental European cities to take the new developments resulting from the British industrial revolution on board at the end of the 18th century, Verviers Wool and Fashion Tourism Centre is located in the former premises of the Dethier textile factory, a building completely reconstructed at the start of the 19th century. The neoclassical complex is formed of a horseshoe-shaped factory, which extends over three sides of an inner courtyard, a Master’s residence and a number of labourers’ lodgings. After various changes of ownership, the factory finally closed in 1971, remaining abandoned until it was acquired by the Municipality of Verviers which commenced restoration of the building in 1988.

Within the centre, the “From Yarn to Fashion” itinerary takes visitors through a series of reconstructed environments and short films clips illustrating the various stages of the wool processing procedure. Many machines and other objects linked to the textile industry are displayed in specially designed sets which, together with an audio commentary, seep the visitor in the life and atmosphere of the glorious age of wool in Verviers. Thus the objects on display are not part of a real and proper scientific collection, but rather visual supports which serve to evoke the various stages of the textile manufacturing process.

Another section of the Centre offers visitors the chance to see a collection of clothing illustrating the development of fashion over the centuries. The Dethier textile factory building also houses also the Verviers Wool Documentation Centre in which a large number of documents, including paper archives from local textile companies, are conserved. The Centre also has a large collection of books, magazines and publications on the historical, social, economic and technical aspects of the textile industry in general and in Verviers in particular.

• Lodz (Poland)
• Prato (Italy)
• Roubaix (France)
• Sabadell (Spain)
• Schio (Italy)
• Terrassa (Spain)
• Verviers (Belgium)
  • museum
  • history
  • industrial archeology