The story behind rebellious New York fashion label-cum-art collective, Women’s History Museum

‘I used to watch the Oscars with my mom and my grandma, so I heard award ceremony and thought, I have to wear a gown – I'm receiving a trophy.’ Mattie Barringer, one half of rebellious fashion label-cum-art collective Women’s History Museum, is relaying a childhood anecdote about the time she dressed up in a red carpet frock for an end-of-season football event. ‘My mom tried to make me wear my soccer uniform, but I wore sequins and lace. It was ridiculous.’ A charming and intimate account of an introduction to aesthetics and how style operates, that Barringer is now in the business of dressing up full time makes it feel especially apt: Women’s History Museum is one of New York’s most exciting fashion-led practices operating today.

Indeed, when Barringer and her creative partner Amanda McGowan first met, during orientation at NYU – taking cinema studies and journalism via pre-med, respectively – a bond was initiated almost before either had uttered a word. ‘Our outfits spoke to each other,’ recalls Barringer. A shared visual language was quickly affirmed and the pair soon began collaborating on various projects until 2015, when Women’s History Museum proper was established. ‘If we weren’t both wearing these very expressive things,’ adds McGowan, ‘we probably wouldn’t have connected. It was both a visual marker of “oh, this is what we’re interested in”, and a kinship.’

Speaking to Wallpaper* the day after Halloween, (they didn’t participate, instead heading to Metrograph to watch Juraj Herz’s 1972 gothic drama, Morgiana), the duo has spent the past decade building on that early instinct and refining how they share it with the world, producing garments, sculptures, print and videos, and putting on catwalk shows, setting up a vintage store, curating exhibitions and opening a physical shop space in Chinatown. Their first institutional exhibition, ‘Grisette á l'enfer’ (or ‘Grissett in hell’, so-called after a figure that emerged in France in the 17^th century, representing working class women behind the fashion industry) is on display now at the Amant in Brooklyn, through 15 February 2026.

‘I was shy when I was younger,’ says McGowan, reciting her own sartorial biography, ‘so [clothing] became a way to communicate with people, to express how I felt and not have to say anything.’ Coming of age before the internet’s grip on culture had reached its current fever pitch, both women were drawn to fashion magazines early on, and initially envisioned their practice would lean into the medium. ‘We grew up with computers, but before you had access to so much imagery. Print media was the way to access images of fashion or art,’ offers McGowan. ‘That was a very formative education on fashion and developing our own tastes and visual language.’

The first ‘official’ pieces of Women’s History Museum were produced for an exhibition by the artist Donna Hunaca, a friend and former colleague of Barringer’s, and the experience ultimately shaped their focus on making apparel in an art context. Pulling influences from a disparate range of sources, the 18^th and 19^th centuries are regulars on their mood board, while Vivienne Westwood’s 1984 ‘Hypnos’ collection is an evergreen reference; an interrogation of the more traditional fashion industry is central to everything they do. In practise, this has led to a singular, oftentimes sexy and typically provocative arrangement of working with textiles and adjacent materials, like a bra constructed from birds (‘Animam Agere’), wigs and shoes made from colourful plastic ‘pills’, or high heels stacked on secondary wooden platforms, as well as more conventionally ‘wearable’ pieces that include dresses printed with columns and leggings full of cut outs.

Until 2020, both Barringer and McGowan were working other jobs alongside and in support of Women’s History Museum. During the pandemic, they began receiving PUA, during which time they started the vintage business, which in turn informed how their wider practice has since unfolded. ‘Living in New York City and surviving off of a creative career is pretty difficult,’ shares Barringer. ‘We started selling vintage because we needed a way to make money, then we were able to direct our energies more intentionally.’ Working together – in addition to maintaining a friendship – is something they’ve had to navigate along the way, but McGowan wouldn’t have it any other way. ‘Collaborations aren’t easy, it took time. But working with someone I really respect and admire is exciting. We have this language which makes it fun and interesting, it’s endlessly generative.’

The Amant exhibition follows their first three consecutive fashion shows since joining the official NYFW schedule, and the pair are happy to be embracing a change in tempo, having sat out S/S 2026. ‘Shows are so ephemeral, it’s nice to have something that's going to stand for a long period,’ explains McGowan. In the space, a series of 18th-century mannequins on loan from the Met appear alongside others cast in wax and welded steel, adorned in pieces from past collections featuring old coins, porcupine quills and antique casino chips. ‘We're lucky to show in different contexts – we love the performative aspect of fashion shows, but it's also enriching for people to see the full scope,’ McGowan continues. ‘Everything feels terrible right now, in many ways, but aesthetically, there are lots of soulless things being made. So there’s a significance to creating things that make people happy, giving a reprieve from the world.’

Women’s History Museum: Grisette à l’enfir runs at Amant, Brooklyn until February 15, 2026

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