Chanel has announced a new five-year partnership with the Centre Pompidou in Paris, expanding its support for the museum during its landmark €460 million ($535 million) renovation. The fashion house, which has backed the Pompidou since 2019, will help preserve access to modern and contemporary art while the museum is closed to the public until its scheduled reopening in 2030. This follows a separate three-year deal in 2025 to grow the museum's collection of contemporary Chinese art by 30 percent, with a focus on women artists, and a 2024 acquisition of 21 works by 15 Chinese artists tied to an exhibition co-organized with Shanghai's West Bund Museum.
The partnership underscores the growing role of luxury brands in sustaining major cultural institutions during periods of disruption. As the Pompidou undergoes what its president Laurent Le Bon calls "a true metamorphosis," Chanel's backing ensures the museum can continue its programming and acquisitions. The deal also reflects Chanel's broader global arts strategy, which includes a women's artist residency at the Pinacoteca de São Paulo and a high-tech arts center at the California Institute of Arts. Meanwhile, the Pompidou has been expanding internationally, recently opening a Seoul outpost with a Cubist exhibition in partnership with the Hanwha Cultural Foundation and announcing a strategic alliance with Hong Kong's M+ museum.