'GIRLS' Asks You to Rethink What's Beautiful—and Complex—About Girlhood
A new must-read art book and MoMu exhibition combine Sofia Coppola, Simone Rocha, Alice Neel, and more to try to define girlhood.
For many, “girlhood” isn’t a finite period.
The new art book GIRLS: On Boredom, Rebellion and Being In-Between recognizes just that, proving how much what we consume, observe, and experience in our youth can shape us—how playground rites of passage, and iconography like bows and barrettes, or dollhouses and fairy wands, can inform our memories and carry weight and connotations more complex than misogyny may lead us to believe.
Published by Hannibal Books and out now, the book is based on MoMu - The Fashion Museum in Antwerp’s acclaimed exhibition by the same name is primarily compiled by and features essays from MoMu curator Elisa De Wyngaert; writer/editor Claire Marie Healy, known for her “Girlhood Studies” series; and The New School, Parsons Paris Fashion Studios professor Morna Laing. GIRLS and its corresponding exhibit, running now until February 2026, features film stills, photographs, garments, and artwork from the likes of Sofia Coppola, Alice Neel, Simone Rocha, and Petra Collins that speak to how girlhood is “more than just a theme, but a way of seeing—of remembering and imagining.”
Over email, De Wyngaert tells Marie Claire that putting the project together unearthed many memories for herself and her collaborators. But what surprised De Wyngaert the most was what a child psychologist shared regarding the concept of boredom in girls. “Although life may seem to stand still, the teenage brain is anything but idle,” the curator says she learned. “Beneath the surface, childhood is unravelling, leaving loose threads searching for ways to connect with adulthood. Feeling bored in adolescence carries a desire for purpose and transformation. However, the balance between restful stillness and unsettling silence is delicate.”
The book may seem like an on-trend dovetail with how fashion and media’s recent embrace of the girl’s gaze—but De Wyngaert says the story of girlhood is timeless, always worth telling, and forever inherently political.
Beneath the surface, childhood is unravelling, leaving loose threads searching for ways to connect with adulthood.
Elisa De Wyngaert
“There is no future without teenagers, and yet, for many, that future is uncertain,” she says “In the worst places to be a young girl, gender inequality, poverty, conflict, and deep-rooted discrimination steal opportunities before they begin. This project is for them, too. It’s for the trans kids. For those who lift girls up: the friends, the siblings, the parents, the teachers, the mentors, the charities, the ones who listen. A reminder that through art, fashion, and exhibition-making, representation and storytelling remain essential in shaping visibility.”
Below, De Wyngaert and Claire Marie Healy, who curated the films spotlighted in GIRLS, selected their favorite art pieces and images in the book, and explain why they speak to the project and exhibit’s larger themes.
Sofia Lai's Sculptures
"'Girl’ is a fluid concept. It’s not easily defined by gender or age. It doesn’t have to match the gender on your passport. When are you a girl, and when are you not? Is it a choice, or do others decide for you? Is it a phase, or more of a feeling?
Several artworks explore these questions, including new installations created with artist and stylist Sofia Lai. One of her dressed sculptures reflects on the familiar teenage experience of feeling alien in your own body, overwhelmed by hormonal shifts, emotions, and physical changes. How do we use clothing during that time to express identity and seek connection?” –Elisa De Wyngaert, Curator at MoMu Fashion Museum Antwerp
'The Virgin Suicides'
“We’re especially grateful we’re able to present the original costumes from The Virgin Suicides (1999) for the first time. We collaborated with director Sofia Coppola and costume designer Nancy Steiner. In Coppola’s adaptation of Jeffrey Eugenides’s [1970s-set] novel, she captures the intensity, vulnerability, and emerging sexuality of adolescence. Steiner’s costumes and Air’s ethereal soundtrack contribute to the film’s enchanting yet realistic atmosphere." –De Wyngaert
'Bonjour Tristesse'
"I found many surprise parallels with the wider 'Girls' show in Durga [Chew-Bose]’s debut feature, adapted closely from the Françoise Sagan novel: Cécile’s ringer tee recalling Chloë Sevigny's in Kids, or the way her lead actress, Lily [McInerny], tends to stand like Degas’s 'Little Dancer' when she’s unobserved." –Claire Marie Healy, guest curator for the films in the "GIRLS" exhibition
GIRLS: On Boredom, Rebellion and Being In-Between, published by Hannibal Books, is available now.
