Overview

The Design Museum in London presents “NIGO: From Japan with Love,” the first museum retrospective of Japanese creative director NIGO outside of Japan, running May 1 through October 4, 2026. The exhibition features over 700 objects and charts a career spanning more than thirty years across fashion, music, architecture, and interior design, presenting NIGO as one of the first creatives to bridge the worlds of streetwear and luxury fashion on a global scale.

Born Tomoaki Nagao in Maebashi, Gunma, Japan, NIGO is the founder of A Bathing Ape (BAPE), one of the defining brands of 1990s and 2000s streetwear culture, and currently serves as Artistic Director of KENZO. His practice draws on vintage Americana, hip-hop, traditional Japanese craft, and the cultural energy of 1980s Tokyo, particularly the Harajuku district’s street style scene. The exhibition is curated by Esme Hawes.

Focus

The exhibition traces NIGO’s multidisciplinary practice from its origins in the back streets of Harajuku to its global influence, presenting his work as a sustained and coherent creative vision rather than a sequence of brand ventures. At its centre is NIGO’s ability to draw simultaneously on vintage Americana, streetwear culture, hip-hop music, traditional Japanese ceramics and craft, and contemporary luxury, weaving these into design languages that have proven consistently influential.

A significant dimension of the exhibition is its engagement with material culture and making. NIGO is himself a practitioner of ceramics, and the exhibition includes pieces hand-thrown by him alongside objects from his personal collection of vintage clothing, furniture (USM Modular Furniture, his chosen furniture partner), and artefacts. A life-size glass tea house made especially for the exhibition is among the major spatial gestures. The recreation of his teenage bedroom in Harajuku is positioned as both biographical context and an index of the cultural influences that shaped his practice.

From the back streets of Harajuku, Tokyo, to the global stage, this is the first-ever museum retrospective and exhibition outside of Japan that will chart the career and life of Japanese creative director NIGO.
Design Museum, Exhibition Description, 2026

Exhibition Highlights

The Glass Tea House

A life-size glass tea house created especially for the exhibition is one of its most architecturally significant elements. The tea house draws on the Japanese tradition of the chashitsu, the purpose-built space for the tea ceremony, translating it into a contemporary material language. Its presence in a London design museum situates a specifically Japanese spatial and ritual tradition within an international design discourse, making visible the continuous exchange between Japanese craft tradition and NIGO’s contemporary practice.

NIGO’s Teenage Bedroom Recreation

A full recreation of NIGO’s teenage bedroom in Harajuku functions as the exhibition’s autobiographical anchor. The space documents the specific cultural environment — vintage clothing, music, visual references — from which his practice emerged, making the argument that his design language is directly biographical rather than abstracted from personal history.

Ceramics by NIGO

Hand-thrown ceramics by NIGO himself are included alongside rare designs and objects from his personal collection. These position NIGO not only as a creative director but as a maker, extending his practice into the material and tactile register that is typically absent from fashion retrospectives.

Personal Collection

Objects from NIGO’s personal collection of vintage clothing and artefacts form a significant portion of the exhibition. The collection demonstrates the discipline of his collecting practice and the breadth of cultural references, from vintage Americana to traditional Japanese objects, that inform his design sensibility.

Related Events

Publication

An accompanying exhibition book, “NIGO: From Japan with Love,” is available for pre-order via the Design Museum Shop for delivery from May 2026, or for collection on the day of a visit.

Audience

The exhibition is open to the general public at the Design Museum, Kensington High Street, London. Its subject matter, spanning streetwear, fashion, music, craft, and interior design, gives it a broad appeal across audiences from design and fashion history, contemporary culture studies, and general visitors. The glass tea house and ceramic works extend the exhibition’s relevance to audiences interested in spatial and material practice. The five-month run places it within the London summer cultural season.

Event Details