Coco Chanel's "Roaring Twenties": Villa Paloma houses creations by 20th century's greatest designer

The flagship exhibition at Monaco’s New National Museum (NMNM) provides a unique dialogue between fashion and modern art. Over 200 pieces tell the story of how the modern woman was invented on the Riviera in the 1920s.

In a preview on Tuesday 18 June, the NMNM unveiled its latest treasures: a masterly exhibition devoted to “Coco Chanel’s Roaring Twenties”, a veritable immersion in the revolutionary world of Gabrielle Chanel on the Côte d’Azur in the 1920s.

Curated by Célia Bernasconi, the summer 2025 exhibition features over two hundred exceptional articles, in a fascinating dialogue between thirty of the designer’s creations and forty works by emblematic modern artists. The names sound like a who’s who of the avant-garde: Kees Van Dongen, Pablo Picasso, Marie Laurencin, Natalia Goncharova, Sonia Delaunay, Jean Cocteau… Their works interact with iconic photographs by Man Ray, Dora Kallmus, Edward Steichen and Roger Schall.

The modern woman, born on the Côte d’Azur

The exhibition reveals how Gabrielle Chanel revolutionised women’s wardrobes by drawing inspiration from the Mediterranean lifestyle. From the 1910s, won over by the beauty and gentle lifestyle of the Riviera, she made Monaco one of her favourite destinations. Her passion for the Principality led her to open one of her first sales outlets in the Hôtel de l’Hermitage in Monte-Carlo in 1914.

The three themes of the exhibition revisit this creative adventure: outdoor life and the rise of seaside leisure activites, the influence of the Ballets Russes and Slavic cultures, and the invention of the “Riviera style”. Each section shows how Gabrielle Chanel drew on the cultural effervescence of the time to create her vision of the “new woman”: modern, free and independent.

A contemporary look at Chanel’s legacy

The exhibition is not just about celebrating the past. The artist Chloé Royer (born in 1989) presents “Of Limbs and Other Things”, a twenty-piece body of work that explores the metamorphoses of the female body, including several creations specially made for the event. This dialogue between heritage and contemporary creation provides another dimension to Gabrielle Chanel’s visionary legacy.

For the fourth year running, the House of CHANEL is supporting this exceptional programme, underlining the enduring ties between the brand and Monaco. The exhibition reveals how Monaco’s exclusive side, its international outlook, elegance and the lifestyle seduced Gabrielle Chanel and then Karl Lagerfeld, making the Principality an inexhaustible source of inspiration for the brand.

Useful information:

Where: NMNM / Villa Paloma – 56 boulevard du Jardin Exotique, 98000 Monaco
When: Exhibition open every day from 19 June to 5 October 2025 from 10am to 6pm. Summer opening times July and August: 11am – 7pm.
Admission: 6 euros, free for under-26s, school and children’s groups, Monegasques, ICOM and CIMAM members, jobseekers (proof required), people with disabilities. Free entry every Sunday