‘Westwood and Kawakubo are provocateurs’: Inside their powerful new exhibit

Did you know that Vivienne Westwood and Rei Kawakubo designed a very limited, collaborative collection together in 2002? The Comme des Garçons designer selected her favourite designs from Westwood‘s archive and had the garments made in Westwood’s studio using Comme fabrics. “Rei picked out designs she liked then Vivienne made them in our fabric,” Adrian Joffe told System in 2013. 

One is the avant-garde Japanese designer and Dover Street Market founder, the other is the late punk icon from Northern England, whose impact defined a decade of British culture. Both, undeniably, are fashion legends – known for their fearless, experimental design that continues to challenge the way we dress.  

Before working together briefly on the capsule collection in 2002, the two designers first met in 1974, when Kawakubo visited Westwood and Malcom McLaren’s SEX shop on the King’s Road. More than 50 years later and the pair are being brought together once again – now, celebrated jointly by the National Gallery of Victoria’s latest exhibition: Westwood | Kawakubo, which opens this Sunday (December 7). 

To mark the occasion, we sit down with Katie Somerville, senior curator of fashion and textiles at the NGV, who gives us a first glimpse inside the exhibition, ahead of its opening this weekend. 

What do you think connects both Vivienne Westwood and Rei Kawakubo? 

Katie Somerville: I think it’s the desire to challenge and change fashion norms that connects them. Westwood and Kawakubo are provocateurs – self-taught designers who have rewritten the rules of fashion and the politics of beauty and taste. 

From the beginning, both designers rebelled against rigid sociocultural expectations to find economic and artistic freedom through fashion. In the exhibition we show further parallels across their careers, such as both being deeply committed to the craft of making and consistently experimenting with cut and form. The pairing instinctively felt powerful and a great opportunity to consider how each profoundly transformed contemporary fashion by protesting orthodoxy and conformity.  

What’s a surprising fact that you learnt about each designer while curating this exhibition? 

Katie Somerville: There are many, but here are a couple: both designers announced a break from their past work with significant runway presentations in 1981. In London, Westwood showed her Pirate collection, and Kawakubo showed her Pirates collection in Paris.

The two designers held a deep respect for one another, producing a collaborative collection in 2002. Kawakubo selected designs from Westwood‘s archive that she admired and the garments were made in Westwood’s studio using Comme des Garçons fabrics. The small range of garments was sold with custom labels featuring both designers’ names.

From merkins to dildo shoes, Vivienne Westwood was never afraid to shock with her work. What’s the most shocking thing in this exhibition? 

Katie Somerville: It really depends on what people personally find shocking. Westwood herself noted that “it’s just a question of adjusting the eye. It's only perverse because it's unexpected.”

For some, it might be the 1975 t-shirt featuring two cowboys naked from the waist down. This caused Vivienne Westwood and Malcom McLaren to be prosecuted under England’s Obscene Publications Act 1959. For others, it might be her radical use of underwear as outerwear, her towering gravity-defying platform shoes of the mid-90s or even the flesh-coloured leggings adorned with a fig leaf that were inspired by classical sculptures and intended to scandalise.

We hope that visitors will come away with a deep appreciation for the profound impact that both Vivienne Westwood and Rei Kawakubo have had on fashion

These two designers are proof that we need women in creative director roles. Would you like to see more women at the head of design houses, so that we might have more retrospective exhibitions like this one in the future? 

Katie Somerville: Fashion houses, museum collections and exhibition programs should all aspire to reflect the diversity of the societies in which we reside and celebrate the creative, talented leaders of past, present and future.

2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the International Women's Year (IWY), which was proclaimed by the United Nations in 1975. It seems fitting that the NGV is showcasing the work of Vivienne Westwood and Rei Kawakubo at this time.

It’s been an incredible year for fashion exhibitions around the world. Do you think we’re witnessing the golden age of fashion exhibitions? 

Katie Somerville: As a fashion curator it is thrilling to see the number of compelling, fashion-centred exhibitions being shown in museums around the world. I know that at the NGV alone we have many projects already in development for the future and hope to see this enthusiastic embrace of fashion exhibitions continue to thrive. 

What do you hope visitors will take away from this exhibition? 

Katie Somerville: We hope that visitors will come away with a deep appreciation for the profound impact that both Vivienne Westwood and Rei Kawakubo have had on fashion. It is also tempting to hope that the works shown in the exhibition are a source of inspiration for visitors to adopt some of the same courageous, creative freedom in their own lives.

Westwood | Kawakubo is on at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne from December 7, 2025-April 19, 2026