Victoria will host a celebration of rebellion and reinvention this summer, with a new world-premiere exhibition charting the careers of two of fashion’s favourite rule breakers.
The exhibition, Westwood | Kawakubo, will feature five decades of showstopping designs from two global icons of fashion – British designer Vivienne Westwood and Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo, founder of Comme des Garçons.
Both self-taught designers, Westwood and Kawakubo transformed fashion with their work that challenged taste, gender and beauty, as well as the function and form of clothing.
From legendary punk ensembles of the late 1970s popularised by The Sex Pistols, to Carrie Bradshaw’s iconic wedding dress from Sex and the City: The Movie, the exhibition brings together more than 140 designs, including 100 works from the NGV Collection and loans from international museums and private collections.
It also includes nearly 40 works from a recent donation gifted by Comme des Garçons to the NGV especially for this exhibition, including a runway version of Rihanna’s 2017 Met Gala red carpet dress, and works from the 2025 Spring Summer runway.
Alongside Westwood | Kawakubo this summer, NGV will present an interactive exhibition for families, Let’s Party: NGV Fashion for Kids.
Showcasing imaginative and vibrant garments from the NGV’s Fashion and Textile Collection, the exhibition encourages children to express themselves, creating party outfit designs through a set of hands-on activities, and capturing the moment in a fashion photography shoot.
Westwood | Kawakubo follows the NGV’s 2024/25 summer exhibition, Yayoi Kusama exhibition, which broke the gallery’s attendance records with more than 570,000 visitors, 24 per cent of whom travelled from interstate or overseas for the exhibition.
Westwood | Kawakubo will be on display from 7 December 2025 to 19 April 2026 at NGV International. Tickets and information are available via the NGV website.