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 private collection of fashion items, amassed over a decade of travel, is available for rent by designers and fashion students seeking inspiration. Its curator and owner, fashion designer Hannah Canham, has lived and worked across North America (in New York and Los Angeles) and Europe (in Madrid, Berlin, London and Paris) where designer archives are commonplace.