Image Credit: Gregory Lorenzutti - NGV Westwood | Kawakubo Friday Nights

NGV Friday Nights: Where Fashion Royalty Meets Melbourne’s After-Dark Pulse

Melbourne’s favourite after-dark art party returns with fashion legends, world-class DJs and four months of creative chaos.

There are few Melbourne rituals as delicious as wandering into the NGV after dark. From December to April, NGV Friday Nights returns, transforming the city’s favourite gallery into a nocturnal playground filled with fashion, art, music and more than a little champagne sparkle. This year, the entire season orbits the rebellious brilliance of Westwood | Kawakubo, a major exhibition pairing two of fashion’s most influential rule-breakers: Vivienne Westwood and Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons.

Picture punk-meets-poetry under gallery ceilings. Deconstructed tailoring glowing in the half-light. Outfits worthy of the Met Gala brushing past ice-cream carts and wine bars. For the uninitiated, NGV Friday Nights runs every week from 12 December to 17 April, from 6–10pm, and each ticket includes unlimited access to the exhibition plus a constantly rotating lineup of DJs chosen for their ability to electrify the room.

NGV Friday Nights

Where: National Gallery of Victoria

When: Friday’s 12 December 2025 – 17 April 2026

Ticketing: Buy Here

Lineup

19 Dec – Breaking & Entering

26 Dec – Yo! Mafia

2 Jan – Claire Knight

9 Jan – Small Fry

16 Jan – Danny Issues

23 Jan – DJ Manchild

30 Jan – Presented in collaboration with Midsumma: DJ Enn & Bendy Ben

6 Feb – Tanzer

13 Feb – Yeo

20 Feb – Danny Issues

27 Feb – Adriana

6 Mar – Claire Knight

13 Mar – DJ Small Fry

20 Mar – DJ Manchild

27 Mar – Breaking & Entering

3 Apr – Adriana

10 Apr – Yeo

17 Apr – Adriana

Keep up to date with all things arts, exhibitions and stage here.

 

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Let’s start with the queens at the heart of this season. Westwood and Kawakubo didn’t simply design clothes. They dismantled the entire idea of what clothing should be. Both emerged in the 1970s as self-taught forces of nature who refused to bow to the established “rules” of dress. Their work challenged traditional beauty, gender expression and even the relationship between body and garment. Across more than 140 pieces, the NGV exhibition highlights their shared rebellious spirit and their sharply contrasting philosophies. Tailoring becomes sculpture. Tartan becomes activism. Fabric becomes a billboard for defiance. It’s a visual jolt of adrenaline and a reminder that fashion is at its best when it’s inconvenient, uncomfortable and absolutely uncompromising.

Beyond the exhibition itself, Friday Nights weaves its magic throughout the gallery. The Great Hall becomes a dining haven with share plates, refined snacks and drinks that read like summer bottled. Think champagne, crisp wines, rosé and Four Pillars gin cocktails. A Moët & Chandon Champagne Bar keeps the bubbles flowing, while Häagen-Dazs offers complimentary tastings for anyone needing a sweet reprieve between dance sets. The Yering Station Wine Bar returns with curated wine flights, and the Gallery Kitchen serves relaxed dishes perfect for grazing between art viewings and DJ sessions.

Speaking of sessions, NGV has curated a season-long soundtrack that embraces the same experimental spirit as Westwood and Kawakubo.

The program kicked off 12 December with a massive opening launch event. It backs up the bold partying on 19 December with Triple R tastemakers Breaking & Entering, whose selections orbit club culture, festival energy and contemporary soundscapes. On 26 December, international party powerhouse YO! Mafia takes over with two decades of hip-hop-infused electricity and worldwide experience behind the decks.

January keeps the pace thrillingly high. Claire Knight (2 Jan) brings bold, stylish selections inspired by the exhibition’s unruly aesthetic. Small Fry (9 Jan) invites audiences on a journey through the sounds of Asia and the Asian diaspora. Danny Issues appears twice, on 16 January and 20 February, bringing his signature blend of dance culture, radio charm and expansive taste. DJ Manchild (23 Jan) fires up the room with a vibrant fusion of soul, Latin rhythms, African gems and disco grooves.

 

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One of the most anticipated nights lands on 30 January, when Midsumma curates an unforgettable evening with DJ Enn and performance artist Bendy Ben. Expect genre-fluid grooves, radical performance art and drag-infused experimentation that feels perfectly aligned with Kawakubo’s devotion to the unexpected.

February and March continue the momentum with a lineup that touches almost every genre imaginable. Tanzer (6 Feb) layers disco, Euro-cinema drama and space-opera glamour into a cinematic set. Yeo (13 Feb and again on 10 April) brings his genre-warping catalogue of country notes, R&B harmonies and electronic textures. Adriana appears on 27 February, 3 April and 17 April, offering global rhythms and infectious personality that radiates across the Great Hall. Claire Knight returns on 6 March, while Small Fry (13 March) and DJ Manchild (20 March) bring their worldly sonic palettes to the space back after their January excursions. Breaking & Entering come back on 27 March, closing their contribution to the season with another expertly curated journey through contemporary sound.

The beauty of NGV Friday Nights is its rhythm. You can sip a chilled gin cocktail, wander through Westwood’s iconic corsets and Kawakubo’s sculptural silhouettes, refuel with a snack in the Great Hall, then drift back to the dance floor. You can spend ten minutes staring at a garment that makes you question every fashion choice you’ve made in your life, then walk out into a glowing sea of revellers dressed like art-school royalty. It’s a full-body cultural immersion.

NGV Friday Nights is a licensed event, so visitors under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Tickets start from $41 for Members, $50 for Adults and $44 for Concession. Booking ahead is highly recommended, as door tickets are extremely limited.

Fashion. Art. Music. Ice-cream. Champagne. A ground-breaking exhibition. A gallery transformed into a late-night cultural wonderland. NGV Friday Nights is where Melbourne goes to feel alive, inspired, and beautifully overstimulated.

To find out more about NGV Friday Nights and to book tickets, head here.