REBELLING THROUGH AGES: KAWAKUBO AND WESTWOOD AT NGV, MELBOURNE

Images courtesy of Lynda Ibrahim  

Breaking Boundaries, Challenging Conventions, Rebelling Relentlessly

In its long history, fashion is often a form of rebellion or aspiration. European royal ladies in Middle Ages were expected to look demure, so Marie Antoinette chose to dress flamboyantly. Coco Chanel lived with strict nuns as an impoverished child, so she designed corset-free clothing that looked luxurious. Madonna paired cross necklace with sexy bustier to rebel against the religion she was raised in.

Many fashion designers have come onto the runway displaying their rebellion throughout the decades. Two of the most celebrated ones, Rei Kawakubo and Vivienne Westwood, are now feted at National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) International in the heart of Melbourne, Australia.

The sizable exhibition opens with a pair of ensembles in vibrant tartans, each designed by Kawakubo and Westwood. The 4-decade life stories and historical works of both designers are smartly arranged in a few galleries so visitors can see the unifying narrative while still learning about each designer’s profile. Between galleries full of fashionable frocks, passageways are filled with timeline, related memorabilia and quotes from both designers. Different-sized screens playing memorable runway shows dot the exhibition throughout, offering different sensation to visitors.

Let’s have a closer look at each designer.

REI KAWAKUBO
Born from an educated, Tokyo-based family in October 1942, Kawakubo graduated from Keio University with a degree in fine art and aesthetics. After graduating in 1964, Kawakubo worked in textile industry and as a freelance stylist before starting to design.

Founding Comme des Garcons (“like the boys’ in French) in 1969, Kawakubo was determined to create clothes that had not existed. She didn’t care much about what conventions dictated and instead set out to craft her own world. Her unique visions materialized through subversion of garment shapes, reframed ideas of beauty and usage of creative materials.

Debuting in Paris in 1981 with a collection named Pirates that she later showed in London, Kawakubo went to fill the 1980s with distressed black fabrics and asymmetrical forms that by then were a novelty, in visual and vocabulary, to the fashion world. She quickly gained reputation as a conceptual designer, the one who prefers to speak through her clothes than to reporters. Her 1996 collection titled Body Meets Dress-Dress Meets Body distorted silhouettes, erasing boundary between the wardrobe and the wearers.

Focusing on her signature design language, through the decades Kawakubo explored sculptural forms, experimented with patterns, and easily moved between discarded items to Perspex for materials. Starting in 2014 onwards, Kawakubo designs solely for runway presentations and private orders, signaling her priorities for personal quest over commercial pursuit. Even when honored as the theme for Met Gala 2017, Kawakubo mostly let her work, instead of her words, to be captured by media lens. Among the sea of society swans strutting in her designs, she remained stoic, appearing almost detached.

VIVIENNE WESTWOOD
Born in April 1941 in an ancient small town of Hollingworth from a working-class family, Vivienne Swire had a teacher-training education and worked as a primary school teacher and factory worker while simultaneously creating jewelry. She wore a wedding dress she designed upon marrying Derek Westwood in 1962, whose last name she kept after their divorce.

Her romantic relationship with multitalented Malcolm McLaren expanded into fashion as Westwood created what McLaren designed. After McLaren became a manager for punk band Sex Pistols, the band started wearing their designs, drawing public attention. The couple set up a shop in bustling Chelsea area of London, quickly becoming a punk scene in the 1970s. The shop often changed names, each time more provocative than before. Their son later grew up to co-found lingerie brand Agent Provocateur.

Presenting their first runway collection Pirate in London in 1981, the same year Kawakubo presented a similarly named collection in Paris, the collection was a fruit of Westwood’s research on 17^th and 18 century menswear, marking the direction she’d often take in the future.

Presented by Interni Cipta Selaras

Of many norm-challenged works they did, the 1983 collaboration with American visual artist Keith Harring warranted a nod. Harring’s graffiti is globally celebrated now, but in those days was yet to be widely accepted. The couple incorporated Harring’s fluorescent symbols of social-political messages into the Witches collection and turned the runway show into an engaging multimedia experience, reaping new clients and fans from American hiphop community.

Westwood didn’t waver after her marriage to McLaren also ended. The 1987-88 collection cemented her penchant for Scottish tweed while simultaneously launching the Orb symbol, the latter sparked fury for its resemblance to the monarchy’s Sovereign Orb. Not to be deterred, Westwood cheekily dressed up as then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on the cover of UK Tatler magazine in April 1989. Despite these, her seminal works were recognized by the establishment; Westwood was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1982 and Dame Commander in 2006 by Queen Elizabeth II.

For her 80^th birthday, Westwood was commissioned by a progressive art community for a video to be screened in Piccadilly Lights, in which she put together a criticism of arms dealing and climate change. She died a year later in London before 2022 ended, reportedly still working on her last days.

WHEN KAWAKUBO AND WESTWOOD COLLIDED
Working in the same era while carrying the same zeal to challenge conventions, Kawakubo and Westwood no doubt crisscrossed their paths along the same global fashion circle. Kawakubo was known to have visited Westwood’s shop in 1974, where she was remembered kindly as a good customer.

Did they ever collaborate? The answer is yes. In 2002, Kawakubo handpicked certain Westwood archival designs and remade them with Comme des Garcons fabrics, released under a shared label. This small and brief collection is described in a red-painted gallery in the middle of the exhibition.

As an exhibition, it is not only well-curated, it also successfully illustrates the parallels while casting a much-deserving individual light on each designer. In the era when “boomer” is often used as a derogatory term to picture outdated persona, these two powerhouses born into Baby Boom generation have often proven to be more progressive than their much younger peers.

Westwood | Kawakubo exhibition runs until April 2026 at NGV International, Melbourne, Australia.