Look 1, jacket and dress
2025 {Smaller is Stronger collection, autumn-winter 2025}
Medium
wool silk polyester, cupra (lining), plastic (buttons), plastic and metal (fastenings)
Measurements
(a) 73.0 cm (centre back) 69.0 cm (sleeve length) (jacket)
(b) 147.0 cm (centre back) 49.5 cm (waist, flat) (dress)
Credit Line
Lynn Kaye Rooney Bequest, 2025
Gallery location
Special Exhibitions Gallery
Ground Level, NGV International
About this work
The Smaller is Stronger collection marked a return to key concerns in Kawakubo’s practice: tailoring codes, suiting and patternmaking. Over the course of her career, she has exploded Western tailoring traditions through strategies of
displacement, fusion, collage and deconstruction. This outfit, as well as the work beside it, uses classic menswear fabrics – navy pinstripe and Prince of Wales check – to create complex sculptural forms that both reference and recalibrate outdated gender codes. As ‘power suits’ of sorts, these works, and the collection’s title, reflect Kawakubo’s critique of corporate dominance and patriarchal systems.