Three decades of fashion history arrive in Tokyo through a rare, designer-led sale
Raf Simons is offering Tokyo a rare opportunity to engage directly with his legacy, staging an extensive archive and stock sale at Dover Street Market Ginza that spans nearly 30 years of work. Opening December 29 and running through January 18, the project brings together garments, collaborations, and ephemera drawn from across the Belgian designer’s career, with new pieces released weekly. Simons himself will be present on opening day, underscoring the personal nature of an event framed by the brand as “a unique chance to acquire a piece of fashion history.”
The selection moves fluidly between cult-defining collections and later collaborations, reflecting the designer’s enduring dialogue with youth culture, art, and rebellion. Handpicked highlights include pieces from the seminal Spring 2002 Kollaps collection, designs created with Sterling Ruby, and looks from the Fall 2016 Twin Peaks show. Beyond clothing, the sale extends into the mythology of the brand, offering archival objects such as VHS box sets of Simons’ first nine shows, early invitations, original look books, posters, and printed matter that trace the evolution of his visual language.
Japan’s long-standing relationship with Simons provides a fitting backdrop. The designer has historically found one of his most devoted audiences there, previously operating freestanding boutiques in Tokyo and Osaka and cultivating deep creative ties within the country. At Dover Street Market Ginza, the archive sale reads less like a nostalgic exercise and more like a living document—one that invites a new generation to encounter the ideas, tensions, and cultural urgency that continue to define Raf Simons’ place in fashion history.
