Since the second half of the nineteenth century, Vlisco has been market leader in the field of printed fabrics for clothing, initially in the former Netherlands East Indies (modern day Indonesia) and later also in West Africa. To this day, West and Central Africa are Vlisco's main markets.

The collection of the Pieter Fentener van Vlissingen Foundation (Vlisco Museum) includes a large number of textile swatches, books, clothing, hand print blocks, archives and other items connected with the production of printed fabrics. The most valuable part of the collection consists of over 13,300 items, covering a period extending from the middle of the seventeenth century to halfway into the twentieth century. Photographs of this part of the collection were taken in 1982. The negatives of these photographs have now been digitized and included in The Memory.

To this day, the peculiarities of those rich cultures, ethnic diversity and special trading networks are a source of inspiration for Vlisco, resulting in the creation of a great and varied collection of appealing patterns with a rich display of colors: design as it should be.