{"id":304864,"date":"2025-12-08T10:51:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T10:51:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/304864\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T10:51:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T10:51:13","slug":"westwood-kawakubo-at-melbournes-ngv-fashion-renegades-in-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/304864\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Westwood Kawakubo\u2019 at Melbourne\u2019s NGV: fashion renegades in conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"

The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) in Melbourne<\/a> has a long history of putting two artists in conversation through the institution\u2019s blockbuster exhibitions \u2013 the gallery is the most-visited in Australia<\/a> \u2013 from Andy Warhol and Ai<\/a> Weiwei in 2015 to Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat<\/a> in 2019. \u2018The 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 \u2013 or indeed divergence \u2013 between the two,\u2019 says Danielle Whitfield, one of the institution\u2019s curators.<\/p>\n

Whitfield\u2019s latest project, alongside Katie Somerville \u2013 another curator in the NGV\u2019s fashion and textiles department \u2013 brings this idea of \u2018conversation\u2019 to the world of style, imagining a dialogue between two of its most influential designers, Rei Kawakubo and Vivienne Westwood<\/a>. Both towering figures of the avant-garde \u2013 and both proudly anti-establishment \u2013 Somerville says they were chosen for their \u2018innovative and visionary\u2019 approach and \u2018shared spirit of rebellion\u2019. Born a year apart, in Tokyo<\/a>, Japan<\/a> and Derbyshire, United Kingdom<\/a>, respectively, their careers would run in parallel: in 1969, Kawakubo would found her label Comme des Gar\u00e7ons, while two years later in London<\/a>, Westwood opened her first shop, \u2018Let it Rock\u2019 on the King\u2019s Road with Malcolm McLaren.<\/p>\n

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\"Westwood\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Sean Fennessy)<\/p>\n

Over the decades which followed, the two designers would challenge fashion\u2019s status quo: for Westwood, first by defining the aesthetics of punk, and later by playfully riffing on historical attire, from corsets to crinoline \u2013 the sugary sensuality of Fran\u00e7ois Boucher\u2019s portraiture was a perennial reference \u2013 while for Kawakubo, rebellion largely came through form. This was memorably encapsulated in her S\/S 1997 collection for Comme des Gar\u00e7ons, which has been affectionately titled \u2018Lumps and Bumps\u2019 for the way its garments feature protusions of padding to warp the shape of the body. \u2018It is more important, I think, to translate thought into action rather than to worry about if one\u2019s clothes are worn in the end,\u2019 she said of the collection in 2005. \u2018This is probably why the collection stimulated strong feelings in many people.\u2019<\/p>\n

While Kawakubo and Westwood did meet in 1974, when Kawakubo visited Westwood and McLaren\u2019s SEX shop, and undertook a little-known collaboration in 2002, whereby archival Vivienne Westwood silhouettes were remade in Comme des Gar\u00e7ons fabrics, the pair largely circulated each other’s work through mutual respect. Westwood would admire Kawakubo\u2019s \u2018punk spirit\u2019, and both designers chose Paris<\/a> to hold their runway shows, which remains the case for Comme des Gar\u00e7ons (Kawakubo hosts biannual mens and womenswear shows). After her death in December 2022, Westwood\u2019s eponymous label continues under her husband Andreas Kronthaler, who also shows a collection twice-yearly in Paris.<\/p>\n

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\"Vivienne\n<\/p>\n

Outfits from the Portrait collection, A\/W 1990\u201391 <\/p>\n

(Image credit: \u00a9 John van Hasselt \/ Sygma via Getty Images. Models: Susie Bick & Denice D. Lewis)<\/p>\n

\u2018The affinity between Westwood and Kawakubo lies in their desire to rewrite the \u2018rules\u2019 of dress,\u2019 says Whitfield, who curated \u2018Westwood Kawakubo\u2019 alongside Somerville. \u2018Generationally, 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 \u2013 and both, though self-taught, are deeply committed to the craft of making, consistently experimenting with cut and form.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018They have shown us the power of fashion to protest orthodoxy and well as its capacity to liberate us from convention\u2019<\/p>\n

Danielle Whitfield, curator at NGV<\/p>\n

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\u2019s collection, which had already amassed a large collection of the two designers\u2019 work (for Westwood, it currently holds 112 works; for Kawakubo, 308). Putting them together for the first time was a chance for a \u2018compelling narrative\u2019, says Somerville, which in the exhibition unfolds over five thematic sections (these sections are titled \u2018Punk and Provocation\u2019, \u2018Rupture\u2019, \u2018Reinvention\u2019, \u2018The Body\u2019 and \u2018The Power of Cloth).<\/p>\n

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\"Westwood\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Sean Fennessy)<\/p>\n

And, while there is a clear affinity between the designers, the curators say that their divergences prove just as intriguing. \u2018There are great differences aesthetically in how they execute and express their vision,\u2019 says Whitfield. \u2018I 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.\u2019<\/p>\n

Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.<\/p>\n

The scenography of the show straddles the \u2018lush and immersive\u2019 \u2013 like an illustrated simulacrum of an 18th-century salon or a room enveloped in red carpeting \u2013 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 Gar\u00e7ons mannequins were all dressed personally by the brand\u2019s 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 \u2013 from magazines and mail-outs to archival film clips \u2013 provides a visual timeline of the two designers\u2019 work.<\/p>\n

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\"Comme\n<\/p>\n

Look 6, from the Body Meets Dress\u2013Dress Meets Body collection, S\/S 1997 <\/p>\n

(Image credit: \u00a9 Comme des Gar\u00e7ons)<\/p>\n

\u2018There 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,\u2019 says Whitfield of their respective legacies. \u2018They 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.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Westwood Kawakubo<\/a>\u2019 runs at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) until 9 April 2026.<\/p>\n

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\"Westwood\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Sean Fennessy)<\/p>\n

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\"Westwood\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Sean Fennessy)<\/p>\n

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\"Westwood\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Sean Fennessy)<\/p>\n

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\"Westwood\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Sean Fennessy)<\/p>\n

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\"Westwood\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Sean Fennessy)<\/p>\n

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\"Westwood\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Sean Fennessy)<\/p>\n

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