The Ethics of the International Display of Fashion in the Museum

First, the article engages with the crucial question of how fashion is cultural heritage, or, at least, how fashion can be considered a part of the ICOM Code’s definition of heritage, and therefore within the scope of the minimum ethical standards it sets forth for its members and potentially for museums at large. Second, the article presents the ICOM Code, contextualizing it within the ICOM’s framework as a nongovernmental international public interest organization, and examines how the ICOM Code is a source of general principles of international law. As part of this section, the article also highlights how one of the ICOM Code’s ethical standards—that the museum’s interest should prevail in the face of a conflict of interest between the museum and an individual—is seemingly becoming a rule of customary international law. In its fourth and fifth sections, the article enters the museum space and analyzes specific fashion exhibits and displays.

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