Design Museum to host Nigo retrospective as part of 2026 programme

London’s Design Museum will host the first-ever museum retrospective and exhibition outside of Japan dedicated to Japanese designer Tomoaki Nagao, better known as Nigo, as part of its 2026 line-up of exhibitions.

The ‘Nigo: From Japan with Love’ exhibition will run from May 1 to October 4, 2026, and will chart the designer’s career from the 1990s in Harajuku, Tokyo, and the founding of streetwear brand A Bathing Ape, to his current role as artistic director at Kenzo.

Nigo is widely regarded as being behind some of the most influential designs, ideas and trends in streetwear, and the exhibition will give visitors a “glimpse” into his world, featuring pieces from his own personal collection of vintage clothing and Americana ephemera to his close network of collaborators.

In the press kit, the Design Museum states the exhibit will showcase the impact of his career, as well as how he remains as wide-reaching and relevant as ever, while sharing his practice of and ability to sample from wide-ranging disciplines and cultural references to help shape some of the most iconic brands.

The Design Museum announces its 2026 programme

Alongside the Nigo retrospective, the Design Museum will also celebrate contemporary Black design with a groundbreaking exhibition guest-curated by Charlene Prempeh, author of ‘Now You See Me: An Introduction to 100 Years of Black Design’.

‘The Nue Black Aesthetic’ exhibit will open on November 6, 2026, and will celebrate the work of contemporary Black designers spanning furniture, architecture, fashion and installation to uncover “the lasting impact of Black design on the contemporary design industry”.

The exhibition will unpack the multifaceted practices of designers who draw directly from identity and culture, build community and those who are redefining design systems far beyond the Black community. Highlights will include works by fashion designers Samuel Ross and Bianca Saunders, as well as Nigerian-American artist and designer, Ini Archibong, Lagos-based designer Nifemi Marcus Bello, and British-Ghanaian artist and architect Giles Tettey Nartey.

The Design Museum pitches the exhibition as a “thought-provoking show,” designed to invite visitors to consider how the Black experience today is central to a designer’s practice and to rethink assumptions about what Black design looks like and who gets to shape design culture.

Other exhibitions to be staged at the Design Museum in 2026 include ‘Es Devlin,’ the first museum show in the UK dedicated to London-based artist Es Devlin, renowned for her immersive art installations and monumental stage creations for celebrated musicians, Olympic ceremonies and Super Bowl halftime shows. The exhibition aims to give visitors a look behind the curtain at some of her iconic designs as well as new large-scale sculptures and installations conceived especially for this landmark retrospective exhibition.

There will also be free displays showcasing the work of London-based designer Simone Brewster, whose work plays with form, working across scales and disciplines, and one highlighting emerging design thinkers whose research responds to the climate emergency.

On the 2026 programme, Tim Marlow, director and chief executive of the Design Museum, said in a statement: “2026 is set to be a ground-breaking year for the Design Museum, with an expansive programme of design talent featuring in a museum context in the UK for the first time.

“The work is creative, disruptive, visionary, boundary blurring and game-changing across fashion, furniture, stage design, installation art and architecture and I’m confident it will continue to attract new audiences for contemporary design and build on the creative momentum here at the Design Museum.”