Vehbi Koç Foundation’s Sadberk Hanım Museum hosted an exhibition with the title “The Tailor of the Palace M. Palma – D. Lena – P. Parma” which was open between 27 November 2008 -11 January 2009

The exhibition displayed the clothes, workshop tools, invoices, photographs and commercials advertisements belonging to the M. Palma – D. Lena – P. Parma Workshop, which according to the Ottoman Annual belonging to year 1868, was a registered company, operating in Pera as the Royal Tailor. It is evident from the labels on the garments the workshop has sawn; the company has worked for the Yıldız Palace, where Sultan Abdülhamid was the resident-in chief. According to the company’s business ledger, it is evident that they not only the company acted as the tailors but also were the suppliers of the Palace.

According to the ledgers that were on display at the exhibition, the company belonged to M. Palma & Sons and records included the period between 1897 and 1902. The second ledger, however, covered the period between 1902–1923, when M. Parma was employed as the Director of, and eventually the proprietor of the company and finally wound up the business. Parma workshop’s garments were made for the palace and the wealthy and the trousers, jackets, waistcoats, raincoats and suchlike civilian clothes reflected the late period European fashion. The exhibition included prime examples of this phenomenon in the form of various garments that belonged to Sultan Abdülhamid II., his sons; Prince Mehmed Abid and Prince Ahmed Nurettin. The uniforms that belonged to Tevfik Pasha, the latest Minister-in Chief, that were made by Parma workshop indicated that at the point of Sultan’s appointing the ministers the fashion has changed in favour of wearing uniforms instead of the traditional ornamented Kaftans [Khil’at]. Some of the exhibited dark navy jackets with broad scarlet stripes, such as the ones that belonged to Mahmud Muhtar Pasha were completely in line with the latest fashion of the European Uniforms.

With this exhibition, where works and records of Parma workshop were exhibited, was extremely significant in the sense that it has shed light to the latest period of the Ottoman State’s social life and the fashion of the Istanbul’s elite gentlemen.