
Opening 7 December 2025, the National Gallery of Victoria will present Westwood | Kawakubo, a world-premiere exhibition examining the radical practices of two of fashion’s most subversive figures: Vivienne Westwood and Rei Kawakubo.
Marking the first time these lauded, singular designers are shown in contrast, the exhibition draws together more than 140 garments from international museums and private collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the V&A and Palais Galliera, alongside significant acquisitions from the NGV’s own holdings. Among them are nearly 40 pieces recently gifted by Comme des Garçons specifically for the exhibition.

Presented thematically, Westwood | Kawakubo charts the convergences and contradictions of two designers who, though born a year apart in vastly different cultural contexts, share an unrelenting impulse to disrupt. From the provocation of punk to the reinvention of historical silhouettes, the exhibition spans decades of practice while interrogating form, gender and the role of fashion as cultural commentary.

Highlights include Westwood’s iconic Anglomania tartan gown worn by Kate Moss and the original corseted wedding dress later made famous by Sarah Jessica Parker, as well as Kawakubo’s abstract sculptural pieces from Invisible Clothes (SS17) and the pop culture-revered petal ensemble worn by Rihanna to the Met Gala.



A series of focused rooms explore key themes: the ethos of punk, rupture as method, fashion’s power to shape and subvert the body, and clothing as a tool of personal and political expression. The exhibition design mirrors this duality, placing Westwood and Kawakubo side by side like mirrors.
In a statement, NGV Director Tony Ellwood described the show as “celebrating two leading female fashion designers from different cultural backgrounds, who both had strong creative spirits and pushed boundaries.” Supported by Mercedes-Benz as Principal Partner, the exhibition also coincides an ambitious world-first publication, also titled Westwood | Kawakubo, exploring the intersecting histories of Westwood and Kawakubo with new reflections from industry experts including Jane Mulvaugh, Valerie Steele, Stephen Jones, Akiko Fukai and Dame Zandra Rhodes.



