The museum's collection of clothes takes you on a journey through the history of textiles, from the 16th century to the present day. The museum's holdings include Coptic, Hispano-Arab, Gothic and Renaissance fabrics, as well as embroidery, a section on lacework and a collection of prints. Also worth mentioning is its collection of jewellery, comprising some 500 pieces made and produced in Spain.

The new permanent exhibition at the Museu Tèxtil i d'Indumentària, Dressing the Body, explains how clothes modify the image of the body with certain actions that have tended either to restrict or liberate it. It spans the 16th century to the present day. The exhibition is organised following a graphic and conceptual itinerary with objects. Visitors are invited to critically observe the manipulation of the body’s appearance and draw on historical and contemporary examples in order to visualise how we have moved on from altering the body’s image with clothes to doing so with plastic surgery.

The museum, together with the Museu de les Arts Decoratives and the Gabinet de les Arts Gràfiques collection, belongs to the new design centre, Disseny HUB Barcelona. The activities of this new centre focus on four main areas: Museum, Setting, Research and Development. Until the permanent premises open, in the Plaça de les Glòries, the centre will have two venues: the Palau Reial de Pedralbes, for permanent exhibitions, and Palau del Marquès de Llió, for the studio gallery and temporary activities.