Noir Kei Ninomiya Spring 2026: Following His North Star

Remember those deep velvet nights of childhood, where stars were twinkling above and nothing bad was lurking in the dark?

Kei Ninomiya let his imagination fly away into that scene of innocence, although the words of Japanese poet Natsumi Aoyagi, whose reading served as the show’s soundtrack, added an undertone of melancholy.

Out came cocoons made of metallic elements, thickets of shimmering rods and even a star-shaped shoulder piece encrusted with crystals that stretched down into a black dress.

Through a translator, the designer said after the show he’d wanted to “start with something very symbolic,” but in the end, it was something very playful and happy…”like childhood, a first drawing.”

But Ninomiya’s North Star remains a canny mix of the experimental and plenty of options with their feet firmly planted in commercial reality, starting with its collaboration with Jimmy Choo.

Standouts included double-breasted jackets with a pleated hem, puffy navy midi-length skirts and dresses with a check design embossed in their crinkly surface and kicky ruffle hem. Ninomiya’s shirt options are always solid and he didn’t disappoint with pristine poplin numbers, such as a short-sleeved one with pie-crust frills tacked on in the shape of stars.

Waking up to find any of these in the closet wouldn’t be the worst thing.