Manuel Rocamora i Vidal (1892-1976)
Manuel Rocamora belonged to a family of the Catalan upper bourgeoisie. His father, Marcos Rocamora, inherited the family industry of producing tallow candles and soaps, from which the family fortune arose. His mother, Ana Vidal, introduced him to the world of art and collecting, and made him join her on her visits to museums. She would save, for example, a piece of her clothing from each season, and covered the costs of the archaeological excavations in Sitges and Ibiza.

He was born on April 2, 1892 into a family of four siblings. He studied Fine Arts at the Llotja school in Barcelona under the direction of the teacher and painter Fèlix Mestres. From a very young age he became fond of collecting and began with ceramics. The fact that his mother kept a piece of clothing from each season made it easy for him to focus on his passion of collecting clothing: he gathered more than 4,000 pieces, including dresses, shoes, stockings, gloves, etc., pieces that he ended up giving to the city of Barcelona with the creation of the Museu d’Indumentària – Rocamora Collection, located in the Palau del Marquès de Llió, on Carrer de Montcada.