Look 6, top and skirt
2023 {Return to the Source collection, autumn-winter 2023}
Medium
wool, nylon (tulle), plastic and metal fastenings
Measurements
(a) 84.0 cm (centre back) 101.0 cm (width) (top)
(b) 79.0 cm (centre back) 100.0 cm (waist, flat) (skirt)
Credit Line
Gift of the artist, 2025
Gallery location
Special Exhibitions Gallery
Ground Level, NGV International
About this work
‘A feeling of wanting to go back to the starting point working with free patterns, using basic materials.’ – Kawakubo, 2023
Kawakubo is known for setting herself and her team technical challenges or restraints – for example, making without stitching or constructing entire garments from a single repeated pattern piece. This outfit is formed from panels of black wool that have been looped and stitched into asymmetrical horizontal tubes, each packed with bands of gathered white nylon tulle. The result is a strikingly original work created from a seemingly simple concept that Kawakubo expressed as ‘a feeling of wanting to go back to the starting point’.