The museum has a diverse collection of textiles, including ancient Peruvian weavings from AD 100–1400, Guatemalan garments with intricate multicolored geometric and animal designs, and Imperial era ceremonial robes and clothing featuring elaborate silk embroidered decoration from 19th-century China.
Most significant is the museum’s collection of embroidered silk fukusa, ceremonial gift covers popular among the aristocracy of Japan and dating to the Edo period (1615–1867). The collection was donated in 1953 by S. Morris Nomura, a scholar of Japanese textiles, when his daughter, Betty Nomura, attended Mills. Widely recognized for the superior quality of these Asian textiles, the museum is home to the largest collection of fukusa outside of Japan.
