Inside the Melbourne exhibition which puts fashion renegades Rei Kawakubo and Vivienne Westwood in conversation

The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) in Melbourne has a long history of putting two artists in conversation through the institution’s blockbuster exhibitions – the gallery is the most-visited in Australia – from Andy Warhol and Ai Weiwei in 2015 to Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat in 2019. ‘The exciting thing with these projects is that they enable a rich and deep exploration of the work of each designer and then the additional exciting prospect of exploring the point of convergence – or indeed divergence – between the two,’ says Danielle Whitfield, one of the institution’s curators.

Whitfield’s latest project, alongside Katie Somerville – another curator in the NGV’s fashion and textiles department – brings this idea of ‘conversation’ to the world of style, imagining a dialogue between two of its most influential designers, Rei Kawakubo and Vivienne Westwood. Both towering figures of the avant-garde – and both proudly anti-establishment – Somerville says they were chosen for their ‘innovative and visionary’ approach and ‘shared spirit of rebellion’. Born a year apart, in Tokyo, Japan and Derbyshire, United Kingdom, respectively, their careers would run in parallel: in 1969, Kawakubo would found her label Comme des Garçons, while two years later in London, Westwood opened her first shop, ‘Let it Rock’ on the King’s Road with Malcolm McLaren.

Over the decades which followed, the two designers would challenge fashion’s status quo: for Westwood, first by defining the aesthetics of punk, and later by playfully riffing on historical attire, from corsets to crinoline – the sugary sensuality of François Boucher’s portraiture was a perennial reference – while for Kawakubo, rebellion largely came through form. This was memorably encapsulated in her S/S 1997 collection for Comme des Garçons, which has been affectionately titled ‘Lumps and Bumps’ for the way its garments feature protusions of padding to warp the shape of the body. ‘It is more important, I think, to translate thought into action rather than to worry about if one’s clothes are worn in the end,’ she said of the collection in 2005. ‘This is probably why the collection stimulated strong feelings in many people.’

While Kawakubo and Westwood did meet in 1974, when Kawakubo visited Westwood and McLaren’s SEX shop, and undertook a little-known collaboration in 2002, whereby archival Vivienne Westwood silhouettes were remade in Comme des Garçons fabrics, the pair largely circulated each other's work through mutual respect. Westwood would admire Kawakubo’s ‘punk spirit’, and both designers chose Paris to hold their runway shows, which remains the case for Comme des Garçons (Kawakubo hosts biannual mens and womenswear shows). After her death in December 2022, Westwood’s eponymous label continues under her husband Andreas Kronthaler, who also shows a collection twice-yearly in Paris.

‘The affinity between Westwood and Kawakubo lies in their desire to rewrite the ‘rules’ of dress,’ says Whitfield, who curated ‘Westwood Kawakubo’ alongside Somerville. ‘Generationally, they occupy the same slice of fashion history, working from the early 1970s onwards. I think what unites them, is that their work is about creative and social freedom; they have tackled similar themes in their work such as challenging conventions of beauty, taste and gender – and both, though self-taught, are deeply committed to the craft of making, consistently experimenting with cut and form.’

The impetus for the exhibition, which was opened with a starry gala co-chaired by musician Troye Sivan this past weekend, came largely from the NGV’s collection, which had already amassed a large collection of the two designers’ work (for Westwood, it currently holds 112 works; for Kawakubo, 308). Putting them together for the first time was a chance for a ‘compelling narrative’, says Somerville, which in the exhibition unfolds over five thematic sections (these sections are titled ‘Punk and Provocation’, ‘Rupture’, ‘Reinvention’, ‘The Body’ and ‘The Power of Cloth).

And, while there is a clear affinity between the designers, the curators say that their divergences prove just as intriguing. ‘There are great differences aesthetically in how they execute and express their vision,’ says Whitfield. ‘I would say Westwood makes use of parody and perversity, and her references are more literal, while Kawakubo's gaze is inward, and more conceptual and abstract.’

The scenography of the show straddles the ‘lush and immersive’ – like an illustrated simulacrum of an 18th-century salon or a room enveloped in red carpeting – and something more spare and industrial (brushed aluminium displays feature, while another room sees a series of screens running along raw concrete corridors). The Comme des Garçons mannequins were all dressed personally by the brand’s in-house team, who flew in from Japan for the occasion, while the Westwood garments are accompanied with shoes and headpieces, many of which were created by longtime collaborator, the British milliner Stephen Jones. Alongside, a series of ephemera – from magazines and mail-outs to archival film clips – provides a visual timeline of the two designers’ work.

‘There are so many ways that Westwood and Kawakubo have left an imprint on fashion today. I think the short answer is that they have both changed the way we see fashion and understand beauty,’ says Whitfield of their respective legacies. ‘They have shown us the power of fashion to protest orthodoxy and well as its capacity to liberate us from convention. I hope that visitors will come away inspired by their creativity, originality, bravery, and artistic vision.’

‘Westwood Kawakubo’ runs at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) until 9 April 2026.