The Underwear Museum (, ) is a museum in

Lessines Lessines (; ; ; ) is a city and Municipalities of Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut Province, province of Hainaut, Belgium. As of the 2014 census, The municipality's total population was 18,637. The total area is which gi ...

, Hainaut,

Wallonia Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

which displays the underclothing of famous persons; each article was worn at least one time by the person in question and is combined with a certificate of authenticity. It also has artistic depictions of famous people wearing underwear.

History

It was established by

Jan Bucquoy Jan Bucquoy (; Harelbeke, 16 November 1945) is a Belgian anarchist who has worked in various media (film, comics writing, painting, sculptures, museums). He gained fame for his controversial anti-establishment works and media stunts, which cause ...

in 2009 in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, and it was initially atop the café De Dolle Mol, in the

City of Brussels The City of Brussels is the largest List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, municipality and historical City centre, centre of the Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, as well as the capital of the French Community of Belgium, the ...

municipality. Bucquoy stated that the end of hierarchy among humans was his motive for starting the museum. He explained, "If you are scared of someone, just imagine them in their underpants. The hierarchy will fall and you will see that this is a guy like any other. We are all equal, all brothers." In 2014 Bruno Waterfield of ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'' stated that when the museum was in Brussels it was "a well-known drinking spot for Belgium's bohemian far-Left." Robyn Boyle of '' The Bulletin'' stated that the museum had become a household name in Brussels". In 2014, the underwear of Yvan Mayeur was stolen from the museum. In 2015, the lease on the café expired, and at one point the

Flemish Community The Flemish Community (, ) is one of the three institutional communities of Belgium, established by the Belgian constitution and having legal responsibilities only within the precise geographical boundaries of the Dutch-language area and of the ...

canceled its subsidy for the museum, causing Bucquoy to move it. The museum was housed in Chez Claude for a period before it moved to Lessines permanently in 2016. Prior to the relocation Mayeur donated a pair of underwear to the museum.

Collection

The museum has underwear belonging to or attributed to belonging to

Brigitte Lahaie Brigitte Lahaie (born Brigitte Lucie Jeanine Van Meerhaeghe; 12 October 1955) is a French radio talk show host, mainstream film actress and former pornographic actress. She performed in erotic films from 1976 through 1980 and is a member of t ...

, Mayeur,

Michel Preud'homme Michel Georges Jean Ghislain Preud'homme (born 24 January 1959) is a Belgian retired association football, footballer and Manager (association football), manager who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Currently, he is vic ...

Didier Reynders Didier Reynders (; born 6 August 1958) is a Belgian politician and a member of the Reformist Movement, Mouvement Réformateur (MR) that served as List of European Commissioners for Justice and Equality, European Commissioner for Justice until 30 ...

, and

Axelle Red Fabienne Demal (born 15 February 1968), better known by her stage name Axelle Red, is a Belgian singer-songwriter. She has released 12 albums, including ''Sans plus attendre'', ''À Tâtons'', ''Toujours Moi'' and ''Jardin Secret''. She is best ...

History

Collection

References

Further reading