Amanda McGowan and Mattie Barringer, the creative minds behind the avant-garde label Women’s History Museum, occupy a distinct space where the functionality of fashion collides with its deeper meanings; a realm where utilitarian needs intersect with cultural symbolism. Their work boldly rejects traditional notions of propriety and celebrates the unapologetic desire to dress and express femininity.
In a departure from their recent runway shows aligned with the New York Fashion Week schedule, McGowan and Barringer took a different direction this season by hosting an exhibition at the Amant in Brooklyn. “Initially, we planned to showcase a full runway presentation in Paris this September, in addition to the exhibition here at Amant,” McGowan shared just days before the exhibit’s official unveiling. Upon realizing the logistics involved, they opted to create “an art show and then later tackle another fashion presentation.” McGowan added, “Our goal was to create a more comprehensive version of previous shows that we didn’t have the chance to realize due to time and resource constraints.” However, they did not entirely abandon their aspirations for Paris; the exhibition, titled Grisette à l’enfer, finds inspiration in the city’s historic Grisettes—young women employed in the fashion industry during the 19th century, recognized for their gray work blouses. “These women embodied a precarious existence within the fashion system, yet were also idealized,” Barringer elaborated. “They represented an intersection of purity and sexualization,” McGowan reflected, as the duo often seamlessly contributed to each other’s thoughts. Their connection to the Grisette is personal—“We run a store and many of them were shop girls or workers in textile mills,” they noted—while they acknowledged a broader narrative worth exploring. “We strive to weave historical futurism into our work by resurrecting the identities of those who lived before us and telling their overlooked stories,” Barringer concluded.
Central to the exhibition is an installation inspired by the Théâtre De la Mode, a traveling showcase of miniature mannequins dressed in high fashion that emerged post-WWII to rejuvenate the French fashion landscape. Specifically, they drew inspiration from Jean Cocteau’s dramatic tableau—a dilapidated room featuring mannequins in states of disarray, one even dramatically draped over a crumbling bed enveloped in hay. In their interpretation for the Women’s History Museum, the walls metaphorically “peel away” to unveil screens that display archival footage from their fashion shows, juxtaposed with haunting images from the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911. This juxtaposition serves as a poignant link between history and the designers’ own narrative. “We crossed paths at NYU, and they own the building that once housed the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory,” Barringer shared. “We fabricated a story where we both worked at the factory, meetings that haunted our memories about NYU,” McGowan added, “Ultimately, we chose to establish our own fashion label instead of following a fated path at the Shirtwaist factory.”
