Westwood | Kawakubo: Fashion as Revolution
Image credit: Vivienne Westwood, London (fashion house), Vivienne Westwood (designer) Look 49, from the Anglomania collection, autumn–winter 1993–94. Le Cercle Républicain, Paris, March 1993. Photo ©firstVIEW. Model: Kate Moss
Fashion shows are everywhere this year, from a survey of Demna Gvasalia’s time at Balenciaga (Balenciaga by Demna until July 9) to Louvre Couture: Decorative Arts and Fashion (until July 21, 2025, at the Musée du Louvre) and Rick Owens, Temple Of Love at the Palais Galliera (until January 1, 2026). The National Gallery of Victoria has just announced its own world-premiere exhibition, Westwood | Kawakubo, set to open on December 7. It is remarkable not only for its scale but also for its bold curatorial pairing of two of fashion’s most uncompromising iconoclasts: Vivienne Westwood and Rei Kawakubo. Bringing together more than 140 garments from the NGV’s collection alongside significant international loans, the exhibition offers a rare opportunity to consider the work of these two visionary designers side by side, highlighting the intersections of their radical approaches—despite their vastly different cultural and historical contexts-and the enduring impact of their work on fashion, art, and contemporary culture.
Image credit: Comme des Garçons, Tokyo (fashion house), Rei Kawakubo (designer) Look 1, from the BlueWitch collection, spring–summer 2016. Paris, 3 October 2015. Image ©Comme des Garçons. Model: MajaBrodin
Born just a year apart—Westwood in 1941 in England, Kawakubo in 1942 in Japan—the two designers emerged in response to distinct social conditions, yet both shared a fierce commitment to challenging conventions. Westwood’s work was informed by and in response to the anarchic spirit of 1970s London, where she used fashion as a vehicle for subversion, critique, and rebellion. From her early punk designs, created in collaboration with Malcolm McLaren, to her later exploration of historical tailoring and political commentary, Westwood consistently challenged authority. Kawakubo, in contrast, forged her avant-garde path in postwar Japan, and with Comme des Garçons set out to dismantle Western ideals of beauty, proposing an alternative aesthetic of asymmetry, imperfection, and ambiguity. Her work defied easy categorisation, rejecting the binary notions of masculine and feminine, beautiful and ugly, finished and unfinished, and often veering into the territory of art.
What makes both designers genuine iconoclasts is their ability to not only disrupt fashion norms but also to reshape how we perceive clothing. Westwood’s designs draw on history—corsetry, bustles, etc.—yet they bend and alter it to reflect contemporary issues. Her corsets, for instance, are not just nostalgic but serve as tools of provocation, empowering and challenging at the same time. Kawakubo’s creations, however, dismiss functionality in favour of conceptual experimentation. She produces garments that exist between fashion, sculpture, and performance—clothes that intentionally defy wearability, questioning the true nature of clothing.
Image credit: Vivienne Westwood, London (fashion house),Vivienne Westwood (designer) Outfits from the Portrait collection, autumn–winter 1990–91 (detail). 116 Pall Mall, London, March 1990. Photo © Johnvan Hasselt / Sygma via Getty Images. Models: Susie Bick & DeniceD. Lewis
This exhibition is especially exciting as it showcases two practices in dialogue, emphasising their differences while also celebrating the shared innovative spirit that unites them. The display of over 40 rare works donated to the NGV by Kawakubo herself underscores the importance of this project and is a true highlight. These garments, together with pieces from the Metropolitan Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum, Palais Galliera, and the Westwood archive, will create an exhibition that reflects both designers’ global influence.
