Louis Vuitton reinterprets Parisian Art Deco through its Objets Nomades

On the occasion of Milan Design Week 2026, Louis Vuitton reaffirms the central role of Palazzo Serbelloni in its design narrative, taking over its courtyard and the entire piano nobile with an immersive journey that interweaves Objets Nomades, historic collections, and new collaborations.

This edition delves into 1920s Parisian Art Deco and the work of one of its foremost exponents, Pierre Legrain, while also signalling an evolution in the exhibition format: dispensing with the standalone nomadic structures of previous editions in favour of a collective project created with established designers and a new generation of creatives.

For the occasion, the courtyard of Palazzo Serbelloni comes to life with an installation inspired by Legrain’s celebrated illustration for the leather binding of the book “Album de 96 dessins et maquettes, ayant servi à l’exécution de reliures,” designed and painted by seven theatre and film set design students as part of the first collaboration between Louis Vuitton and the Brera Academy. A work in progress, it will be activated over the week through live painting sessions; the students will also be involved in developing installation proposals for future editions of Milan Design Week.

A central figure inspiring the project is Gaston-Louis Vuitton, grandson of the maison’s founder: an aesthete and collector, he initiated collaborations with artists, illustrators, and artisans in the 1920s, giving rise to a heritage that today comprises around 200,000 documents and 45,000 items, including trunks, suitcases, accessories, and travel objects, augmented by archival materials and one-of-a-kind pieces. A vision that, even then, defined the cultural dimension of travel as an aesthetic language.

The itinerary begins with a journey back through history: the visitor traverses a room conceived as a train carriage, articulated into niches that chart the relationship between Gaston Vuitton and Pierre Legrain. Here, the 1921 coiffeuse- the first piece of furniture commissioned by Gaston Vuitton from Legrain- is presented, now reissued in a form that preserves its original hues and proportions.

The itinerary then unfolds through six niches that assemble a fragmentary narrative. The first two are dedicated to the quintessential mode of travel of the time: by train- showcasing compact trunks and luggage designed for the confines of sleeping compartments, featuring the Damier pattern, the first graphic motif created in response to counterfeiting and a precursor to the maison’s visual identity. It was Louis Vuitton’s son, Georges, who in 1896 created the LV monogram in memory of his father.

The subsequent niches explore the early collaborations with Legrain, from the original illustrations used in catalogues to the construction of a true advertising language for the maison, where drawing becomes the product’s primary narrative device. This is followed by a chapter devoted to the culture of books and writing: Legrain, also a bookbinder and creator of book covers, develops distinctive symbols and codes for private collections, transforming each volume into a personal and recognisable object. A passion for books and for writing that was shared by Gaston Vuitton, who founded three bibliophile societies in Paris and even set up, in the Champs-Élysées store, a corner where people could write their letters. A highlight of the niche is a small toiletry nécessaire complete with a writing compartment.

The next niche is devoted to elegance, again featuring Legrain’s designs, and introduces the first women’s handbags from the late 1920s, along with flacons commissioned by Gaston that represent the maison’s first true artistic collaboration. Also present are the first tortoiseshell creations conceived as one-of-a-kind pieces, expressions of a discreet yet highly codified luxury. Along the route, a space is entirely dedicated to celebrating Pierre Legrain’s book covers, reinterpreted on screens, trays, tablecloths and napkins, rugs, blankets, plates, and armchairs.

The next room opens to cross-pollination with the contemporary and to a dialogue with the visual arts. The space takes shape as a salon in which references to the world of Fortunato Depero and his Futurist language coexist, with prints and patterns inspired by his graphic explorations- including fantastical animals- and his idea of art applied to everyday life. New for 2026 are coffee tables by French designer Franck Genser, made of Zimbabwe Black marble and hazel wood.

Among the most iconic pieces in the Objets Nomades collection is the Cocoon armchair by Estudio Campana, launched in 2015 and presented this year clad in a futuristic mantle whose iridescence recalls the glass façade of the new maison Louis Vuitton Sanlitun in Beijing. Equally spectacular is the table football, also designed by Estudio Campana, which returns in a new aquamarine version, with hand-painted mermaids embellished with Swarovski crystals set in their eyes, an inlaid mother-of-pearl playing surface, and scale-textured leather legs made from offcuts of exotic leathers. Equally rare and precious is Estudio Campana’s Kaléidoscope cabinet: a one-of-a-kind piece in aquamarine, whose hypnotic design is composed of more than 500 3D facets crafted from reclaimed exotic leather.

The itinerary thus concludes in a seamless continuity between archive and project, between memory and experimentation, affirming Louis Vuitton’s signature in its design expression: a cultural system before it is an aesthetic one, in which the past is never cited nostalgically but reactivated as living material for contemporary design. A selection of the works presented along the itinerary will be available for purchase, extending the experience beyond the exhibition space and into the everyday act of collecting.