This is the first program in the From Exile to Avant-Garde: The Life of Princess Natalie Paley exhibition lecture series. 

In tandem with the exhibition From Exile to Avant-Garde: The Life of Princess Natalie Paley on view at Hillwood from June 7, 2025 to January 4, 2026, please join Megan Martinelli, curator of textiles, apparel, jewelry, and accessories, and co-curator of the show, for this talk on Princess Natalie Paley's contributions to modern fashion history.

From her early exposure to the original Parisian couturiers of the Gilded age via her mother's patronage of designers like Worth and Paquin, Natalie Paley cultivated a reputation for understanding clothing. She advised on the design and business structure of her former husband, Lucien Lelong’s Parisian atelier at the height of his career success. She even styled herself and keenly partnered with close photographer friends like George Hoyningen-Huene, Horst P. Horst, and Ceil Beaton to market the apparel. By her late 30s, she relocated to the US and became the successful "right hand" to French American designer Mainbocher, a renowned couturier who rebuilt his business in New York at the onset of World War II. She earned the highest honor—a spot on Eleanor Lambert's International Best-Dressed list in recognition of her creative taste and marketable sense of style. Informal gatherings at her home, Pebbles, even served as incubators for design collaborations and fashion network entrees. Join Hillwood’s curator of apparel, textiles and jewelry, Megan Martinelli, for an in-depth look at Princess Natalie’s fashionable network of designers and industry insiders and her own contributions to modern fashion history.

Image courtesy of Hillwood Estate, Museum, and Gardens.

HYBRID PROGRAM 

This lecture will be presented in the theater in the Ellen MacNeille Charles Visitor Center and will be livestreamed via Zoom. Visitors can submit questions for the speaker from any location. 

IN-PERSON TIMELINE

5:30–6:30 p.m. | Explore Hillwood

• Enjoy Hillwood’s mansion, gardens,  greenhouse, and exhibition, From Exile to Avant-Garde: The Life of Princess Natalie Paley
• Find the perfect memento from your visit at the museum shop

6:30–7:30 p.m. | Lecture 

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Megan Martinelli joined Hillwood in January 2018 and is curator of textiles, apparel, jewelry, and accessories. She was the lead curator for the 2019 special exhibition, Mid-Century Master: The Photography of Alfred Eisenstaedt, 2021’s Roaring Twenties: The Life and Style of Marjorie Merriweather Post, 2022’s Grace of Monaco: Princess in Dior, 2024’s Marjorie Merriweather Post’s Paris, and co-curator of From Exile to Avant-Garde: the Life of Princess Natalie Paley, on view through January 4, 2026. Megan contributed two chapters on her Hillwood portfolio to the 2022 Rizzoli Electa publication, The Houses and Collections of Marjorie Merriweather Post: The Joy of It¸ and a chapter focused on Natalie Paley to the 2025 English translation of Wilfried Zeisler’s publication, The Belle Époque Life in Paris: Olga Paley and Paul of Russia. She is working on a forthcoming publication with Rizzoli Electa on the apparel, textiles and jewelry collection, expected in September 2026. Prior to Hillwood, Megan was a Research Assistant at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, where she assisted with exhibitions including “China: Through the Looking Glass” (2015) and “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology” (2016). Megan holds a Master of Science in Historic Textiles and Costumes from the University of Rhode Island. Her research focuses on identity and expression through fashion and adornment.