“Les Années Folles de Coco Chanel” at the Nouveau Musée National de Monaco
June 19 – October 5, 2025 | Nouveau Musée National de Monaco – Villa Paloma
This summer, the Nouveau Musée National de Monaco – Villa Paloma invites visitors into the world of the 1920s with Les Années Folles de Coco Chanel, on view from June 19 to October 5, 2025. The exhibition explores the radical innovations of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel during the post-war era on the Côte d’Azur—where leisure, luxury, and liberation converged to redefine modern femininity.
In the aftermath of the First World War, Coco Chanel seized the momentum of cultural transformation to revolutionize women’s fashion. As early as 1912, she opened her first boutique in Deauville, introducing jersey sportswear that defied conventions and offered unprecedented freedom to the female body. The move was bold—and instantly successful.
Chanel’s empire expanded rapidly: a second boutique opened in Monte-Carlo in 1914 at the Hôtel Hermitage, offering a range of garments and accessories tailored to a life of seaside elegance. The following year, she established her first couture house in Biarritz, employing 60 seamstresses to meet the growing demand from an elite clientele.
Three Themes That Defined a Decade
Curated by Célia Bernasconi, the exhibition is structured around three major themes:
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Outdoor Life and the Rise of Seaside Leisure:
Chanel’s designs embraced the increasing popularity of sports like golf, tennis, and swimming, providing elegant yet practical attire for the new lifestyle of leisure. The Principality of Monaco itself played a pioneering role in women’s sports by hosting the first Women’s Olympiads (1921–1923). -
The Ballets Russes and the Influence of Slavic Cultures:
Chanel’s creative orbit included close friendships and collaborations with artists like Serge Diaghilev, Igor Stravinsky, and the Ballets Russes. In 1924, she designed the costumes for Jean Cocteau’s ballet Le Train Bleu, presented during the Paris Olympic Games—a key moment of artistic interdisciplinarity. -
The Invention of the “Riviera Style”:
Regular stays in Monaco inspired Chanel’s signature coastal aesthetic. She established her own Riviera haven in 1928—La Pausa, a villa in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin—where she embodied effortless elegance in striped tops, wide-leg trousers, cropped hair, and layers of pearls. It was also during this period, in 1921, that the legendary Chanel No. 5 perfume was created in Grasse, becoming an icon of the era.
Les Années Folles de Coco Chanel presents over 200 pieces, weaving a narrative between 30 fashion models and accessories by Chanel and 40 works by modernist icons including Kees Van Dongen, Pablo Picasso, Marie Laurencin, Natalia Goncharova, Sonia Delaunay, Jean Cocteau, Mikhail Larionov, and Alexandra Exter. Rare photographs by Man Ray, Dora Kallmus, Edward Steichen, and Roger Schall enrich this multidimensional story of style, art, and identity.
The exhibition culminates in a spectacular display of Chanel’s most glamorous eveningwear—fringed, sequined, and feathered dresses, embellished with tulle flounces and oversized silk fans—designed to dazzle at high-society soirées and epitomize the creative energy of the Années Folles, when imagination knew no bounds.
In a bold dialogue between past and present, contemporary artist Chloé Royer presents Of Limbs and Other Things, a series of 20 sculptural works, several created specifically for the show. Her pieces explore metamorphosis and the female form, bridging Chanel’s vision of liberated womanhood with today’s perspectives on identity and embodiment.