The Facts
On October 12, 2026, Thaddaeus Ropac announced the presentation of Tom Sachs's '31 Rue Cambon,' an installation staged recently in the artist's SoHo studio in New York. The show comprised 31 'Chanel' suits carved from three-quarter-inch plywood, part of a full-scale boutique environment with handmade versions of the house's signature suits, accessories, packaging and retail displays. Sachs painted and textured the plywood to mimic tweed and embroidery, adding jewelry made with Lego elements and bicycle reflectors, plus furniture inspired by Coco Chanel's Parisian apartment. A custom soundtrack blending ambient music, horror-film scores and archival Chanel advertising completed the installation.
The Signal
The project makes the economics of desire its subject: by stripping the price from a luxury object and leaving only labor, Sachs asks what actually generates value. His handmade replica, built at near-couture effort from crude materials, tests whether worth can survive without a price tag. For a gallery program such as Thaddaeus Ropac, backing a studio-scale, installation-driven project signals sustained market attention to Sachs's practice.
- Artists: Tom Sachs
- People: George Nelson, Coco Chanel
- Galleries: Thaddaeus Ropac
- Locations: New York
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