Australia’s first fashion library’s rule for borrowers? No stylists allowed

Being able to touch and examine garments in person can be a vital source of inspiration for designers. Now a collection which does just that has relocated from Europe to Melbourne In what was once a nun’s bedroom, a long-sleeved, slate-blue Hermès dress from the 1970s hangs beside a window. Made from a soft, delicate silk jersey, its scooped neckline reveals two minimalist tags.

One identifies the famous luxury fashion house, the other reads: Made in France. On a rack on the opposite wall of the small room in Melbourne’s Abbotsford Convent there are similarly beautiful vintage garments, predominantly from the 20th century. The labels read like a list of boutiques along Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris: Prada, Christian Dior, Schiaparelli, Margiela, Kenzo and Valentino. But none of the clothes here are for sale: this is a garment library called This Era Archive. The…