Vivienne Westwood APAC

A new exhibition celebrates the ground-breaking designs of Vivienne Westwood and Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons. Born a year apart in different countries and cultural contexts, each brought a rule-breaking radicalism to fashion design that subverted the status quo. Today, their critically acclaimed collections are celebrated globally for questioning conventions of taste, gender and beauty, as well as challenging the very form and function of clothing. Through a showstopping display of more than 140 innovative and ground-breaking designs, ‘Westwood | Kawakubo’ explores the convergences and divergences between these two self-taught rebels of the fashion world.  

Exhibition highlights include Westwood’s iconic punk ensembles from the late 1970s, popularised by London bands such as The Sex Pistols and Siousie Sioux; a romantic MacAndreas tartan gown from Westwood’s Anglomania collection (Autumn-Winter 1993/94), famously worn by Kate Moss on the runway; and the original version of the corseted Wedding dress  first shown in the Wake Up, Cave Girl Autumn-Winter 2007/08 collection and later worn by Sarah Jessica Parker in ‘Sex and The City: The Movie.’    

‘Westwood | Kawakubo’ will be on display from 7 December 2025 to 19 April 2026 at NGV International, St Kilda Road, Melbourne. Entry fees apply. Tickets and information are available via the NGV website: NGV.MELBOURNE 

Jewellery has played an integral role in defining the Vivienne Westwood look. From the very beginning, Westwood’s journey has been intertwined with the craft. The exhibition will explore the design codes and subversive spirit of the British design house through this prism.

Marking the first time the special archive and runway pieces, from across four decades, have been curated and displayed as a collection, the exhibition will offer a retrospective look at the house’s extensive history of jewellery design – encompassing Westwood’s sensibilities for historical reference, the subversion of past and present ideas - and socio-political themes.

Visitors can expect eclectic pairings of jewellery and garments – each creation presented as an ‘objet d’art’, surrounded by a 'chaos’ of wall prints and sounds, catwalk looks, imagery, and video, recalling iconic past collections and runway shows, and offering a unique perspective into the Vivienne Westwood world.

 

 

 

Following our partnership with Artisan Fashion, we have launched an exclusive collection of ‘Made in Kenya’ handmade in Kenya, which will be available to purchase from our global flagship boutiques, from Spring 2025. The City Totes collection offers unique graphics, inspired by each city.