The costume department of the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag (also referred to as the fashion department) manages one of the most important collections of fashion in the world. This collection department contains both historical dress worn in the Netherlands and designs that defined fashion internationally. The work of internationally prominent fashion designers has therefore been included, as has that of Dutch couturiers, which is exhibited jointly in huge display cases in the fashion gallery. The collection of accessories, jewellery, fashion magazines, drawing and prints helps place the clothing in a broader perspective.

The oldest prints and drawings date back to the sixteenth century, while the oldest fashion magazines in the collection are from the second half of the eighteenth century. In that period, the first fashion magazines began to appear. The collection includes both leading French magazines and the Dutch publication Kabinet van Mode en Smaak (‘Cabinet of Fashion and Taste’), which was published between 1791 and 1794 by A. Loosjes in Haarlem. Many fashion items in this publication were copied from French and English fashion magazines. Dutch fashion reporting remained dependent on information from France, England and Germany until the twentieth century. Not only the fashion images, but texts were also copied in Dutch translation.