NGV Friday Nights returns this summer, transforming the gallery after dark with music inspired by Vivienne Westwood and Rei Kawakubo.
From 12 December, NGV International opens late every Friday night through to April, pairing exhibition access with DJ sets from some of Australia’s best selectors.
Westwood | Kawakubo traces five decades of groundbreaking design from two designers who fundamentally reshaped what fashion could be, and NGV Friday Nights extends that rebellious energy into after-hours programming.
Breaking and Entering, Adriana, DJ Manchild, YO! Mafia, Small Fry, Claire Knight, Tanzer, Yeo and Danny Issues rotate through the summer season, pulling from 70s, 80s and 90s classics alongside summer dance staples. It’s programming that matches the eclectic spirit of both designers; punk energy meets conceptual experimentation, wrapped in sounds that’ll keep people moving between gallery spaces.
NGV Friday Nights
- NGV International, St Kilda Road, Melbourne
- Every Friday from 12 December 2025 to 17 April 2026
- Exhibition and DJ sets
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The dining and bar experiences spread across the ground level of the NGV, turning the space into something between art viewing and proper night out. Share-style plates and snacks cover dinner options, while curated drinks keep things flowing throughout the evening. The NGV Gallery Kitchen offers a more relaxed setting for lighter dishes if you want to sit down properly between checking out the exhibition and catching the DJ sets.
Pop-up bars lean into premium territory without getting stuffy about it. Moët & Chandon runs a champagne bar pouring Impérial Brut and Rosé Impérial for anyone feeling celebratory. Yering Station brings curated Yarra Valley wines, while Four Pillars mixes gin cocktails designed for summer drinking. Häagen-Dazs sets up an ice cream cart for when you need something cold between drinks and dancing.
Friday 30 January brings special programming through a collaboration with Midsumma, Australia’s premier queer arts and cultural organisation. LGBTQIA+ DJs and roving performances take over NGV Friday Nights for one evening, celebrating the creative self-expression that connects both Westwood and Kawakubo’s work to queer culture and identity. It’s fitting programming given both designers’ relationships with subcultures that used fashion as radical statement.
Westwood | Kawakubo runs from 7 December 2025 through 19 April 2026, giving the Friday Nights series months to explore different angles on the designers’ legacies.
Westwood brought punk attitude and historical reference into high fashion, while Kawakubo’s Comme des Garçons challenged every assumption about how clothes should sit on bodies. Both designers proved fashion could be intellectually rigorous, politically charged and commercially successful simultaneously.
Running exhibition programming into late evening shifts how people experience gallery spaces. You can finish work, meet mates for drinks at one of the bars, wander through Westwood | Kawakubo at your own pace, then stay for DJ sets without feeling like you’re cramming culture into limited daytime hours.
It’s a format that works particularly well in summer when staying indoors during daylight feels criminal but you still want to do something more engaging than just hitting a pub.
NGV Friday Nights has become a summer fixture over recent years, with each season building on what worked previously. This iteration leans harder into music programming that actually reflects what the exhibition explores; rebellion, experimentation, refusal to accept established norms about what things should look or sound like.
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