Casa Zuzu Angel summarizes the identity of Rio de Janeiro. Starting with its location, at the beginning of the ascent to Alto da Boa Vista where, in the past, the trams would switch tracks and, in the distant past, the donkeys would rest.

In the eclectic residence, architecture styles such as the Manueline coexist harmoniously with the Colonial, Neoclassic, Art Deco and Art Nouveau. Refined craftsmanship produced beautiful stained glass, stucco, ceramic tiles, ceramics, parquets, hardware, fountains, tiled benches, panels and gardens.

So, all of this adds up to a rare beauty that reveals itself to the City. The space serves as scenario and content for the “Memória da Moda do Brasil – Acervo, Restauração e Conservação de Têxteis” (Memory of Brazilian Fashion - Collection, Restoration and Conservation of Textiles) project, a mission arduously defended by Instituto Zuzu Angel de Moda da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro since its foundation in 1993, when it began its activities of keeping the memory of Brazilian fashion alive and raising awareness to its importance as an expression of our identity.

In the mid-1960s, Zuzu began her crusade to create fashion with a Brazilian identity, which led to the acknowledgment of her work abroad during a period in which there were few opportunities to take Brazilian values to the international scenario.

Her historic fashion collection is kept at Casa Zuzu Angel, the iconography and all documentation surrounding her work and her struggle as a willful mother who sought to find her son, Stuart Angel Jones, who had been abducted for his political views.

Other fashion collections make up the house's archive. Among them, important collections such as, Carmen Therezinha Solbiati Mayrink Veiga’s haute couture collection, Casa Canadá’s collection by Mena Fiala, Isabela Capeto’s collection, which has 200 prototypes, Perla Mattison’s collection, Bonita’s collection, children's fashion prototypes, Glorinha Paranaguá's collection with its accessories, and countless others of the same magnitude.

The strong cultural, business and political leadership of Rio de Janeiro is depicted through fashion in the Mosaíco da Vida Brasileira collection, from the 20th and 21st centuries. It is made up of clothes, accessories, objects from characters from several segments of Brazil's society - from the festive elite to work uniforms that belonged to trade union leaders, or intellectuals, politicians, cultural personalities and celebrities in general.

The House is also dedicated to the restoration and conservation of textiles, which is an urgent need in a Brazil that finds itself lacking in terms of heritage. Countless collections of clothing, fabric, tapestry, flags, uniforms are lost due to the lack of technical knowledge on how to preserve them. Training specialized professionals on this craft, who are then able to serve the various institutions in need, will confirm the Carioca’s avant-garde, pioneering and zealous tradition in the national arts.

Welcome to Casa Zuzu Angel!
Hildegard Angel