The "Fearless Fashion" Verdict

The Core Concept: By placing 150 garments from the "Mother of Punk" alongside the "Architect of the Void," the NGV explores how two self-taught women, born a year apart on opposite sides of the globe, simultaneously broke every rule in the fashion handbook.

The Experience: Designed by Studio Peter King, the exhibition is built on symmetry. It treats the two designers like "left and right hands"—similar in their grasp of rebellion but fundamentally unique in their execution.

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Review Highlights: Convergences and Divergences

1. Punk as a Manifesto (The "Seditionaries" vs. The "Object")

The exhibition opens with Punk and Provocation, and it is electric.

• Westwood: You see the raw, literal aggression of her early work with Malcolm McLaren—bondage trousers, safety pins, and the infamous "Cowboys" T-shirt that once led to a prosecution for obscenity.

• Kawakubo: Her punk is more conceptual. Instead of literal safety pins, she uses "distressed" fabrics, raw edges, and asymmetrical holes that "start from zero."

• The Dialogue: While Westwood used punk to shout at the establishment, Kawakubo used it to whisper a new definition of beauty into existence.

2. The Battle of the Body (Corsets vs. Lumps)

Perhaps the most "confrontational" section is The Body: Freedom and Restraint.

• Westwood’s Hyper-Femininity: Her 1995 Erotic Zones collection is on full display, showing how she used historical corsetry to "re-arm" the female body, turning traditional tools of restriction into symbols of power.

• Kawakubo’s Abstraction: Facing Westwood’s corsets are Kawakubo’s iconic "lumps and bumps" (Body Meets Dress, Dress Meets Body, 1997). She literally distorts the human silhouette with padding, refusing to let the garment be a passive frame for the body.

3. History as a Riot (The Pirate and the Queen)

In Reinvention, we see their shared obsession with the past.

• The Showstopper: Westwood’s legendary MacAndreas tartan gown (famously worn by Kate Moss) stands as a monument to her "Anglomania" era.

• The Counterpoint: Kawakubo’s recent Smaller is Stronger (AW 2025) pieces use 18th-century ruffles and frills but explode them into architectural objects that feel like they belong in a futuristic cathedral rather than a courtroom.

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Critique: "Over-designed" or "A Séance"?

While the garments are universally praised as "masterpieces," some critics have noted that the exhibition design itself is almost too ambitious.

• The Pro: The use of raw concrete corridors, red carpeting, and mirrored symmetry creates a "High Fashion Séance" atmosphere.

• The Con: ArtsHub and other reviewers noted that the heavy scenography occasionally "suffocates" the garments, making it difficult to appreciate the delicate texture of Westwood’s silk or the intricate draping of Kawakubo’s wool.

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Exhibition Snapshot

Feature	Details
Garment Count	150+ (including 45 recently gifted by Kawakubo herself).
Key Lenders	The Met (NYC), V&A (London), Palais Galliera (Paris).
Viral Moment	The pairing of Westwood’s 1993 platform shoes with Kawakubo’s "dildo shoes."
Final Gallery	The Power of Clothes, featuring Westwood’s climate activism banners and Kawakubo’s Uncertain Future (2025) collection.

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Final Thought: Why It Matters Now

In a 2025 landscape dominated by "fast fashion" and AI-generated trends, Westwood | Kawakubo is a reminder that fashion is—at its best—a political act. It is an exhibition that celebrates the "fierce individual."

As curator Katie Somerville noted, the goal wasn't just to show clothes, but to "adopt some of that same courageous freedom in our own lives." Whether you love the Scottish tartans or the Japanese voids, you leave the NGV feeling that being "shocking" is often just a byproduct of being honest.