Latest news with #TheRedDress
Express Tribune
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
The Red Dress: from bridal couture to therapy and empathy
Listen to article Dear Kristie Mcleod, There is something undeniably empowering about The Red Dress. Whether it's any red dress or one you've created. To a bride, it conveys confidence, making her feel beautiful and expressing love while connecting her with a timeless tradition. Choosing red as a bridal dress, though considered a very South Asian thing these days, had a history in Chinese and many other European cultures. In each culture, the meaning of this Red remained associated with love, passion, strength, abundance, maturity and fertility. Your red dress embodies such ideals, yet it surpasses them all with a more profound message. It is not just a dress, it is a work of Art — Art that has one language, a language that women from over 50 different countries could understand and converse in as they joined hands to embroider 380 pieces to make one dress. Each piece deliberated with wisdom, experience and passion aims towards shaping the dress and giving it a charm that opens up new avenues of discovery, identity, empathy and belonging. Yours is the largest collaborative embroidery project ever recognised by the Guinness World Records. The dress has proved to be a powerful way to bring people together and give a voice to marginalised communities — "female refugees, women seeking asylum, impoverished and disadvantaged women" from war zones, diasporas and other vulnerable situations. By combining traditional embroidery techniques with personal stories and experiences, women could express themselves and share their perspectives with a global audience. It's amazing that the project has provided opportunities for people to develop new skills and earn a living, while also promoting healing and self-expression. Collaborative embroidery has proven to be an effective medium for catharsis. The repetitive motion of stitching is meditative, promoting relaxation and reducing stress. It endorses connections among participants, providing a sense of belonging and support. Working with fabric and thread provides a sense of comfort and security, allowing participants to explore difficult emotions in a safe environment. I'm also intrigued to learn about the ten boys/men who contributed as embroiderers of the dress. I apologise if this sounds gender-biased; it's a cultural thing. I'm surprised to think of men as leisure embroiderers. Maybe I'm just possessive about the happy memories of embroidery sessions with my mother and aunts that I'd rather not share with male family members. These private, all-female sessions were a staple in many South Asian households, where girls would embroider chaddars for their dowry alongside elderly women who taught them various aspects of homemaking, including financial management, social etiquette and family relationships. I must admit that The Red Dress's impact extends beyond art, sparking meaningful conversations and influencing policy discussions. In January 2023, it was presented in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in a session on equity and non-discrimination, highlighting its potential to humanise complex issues and foster empathy among leaders. Such recognition lent more power to the project, transitioning the Red Dress into a tool for social change. Managing a project of such scale must have its challenges. You are right that "every challenge has been woven into the dress's history, representing a collective legacy that will last for hundreds of years to come". For over 16 years, you've dedicated yourself to this single project. Contemporary art often has a short lifespan, both in form and message. By continually adding to this one dress, you're expanding the scope of sustainable art. I'm critiquing the fleeting nature of modern creative expressions, where art pieces are quickly created, consumed and discarded, contributing to waste and unsustainable practices. In contrast, working on a single project over an extended period fosters dedication, raises the value of art and highlights the importance of longevity and the artist's relationship with their work. This approach also allows for a deeper understanding of the creative process and the evolution of ideas over time. Looking forward to experiencing the dress in person. May we find a way to bring it to Pakistan soon! Bano, July 2025
BBC News
01-06-2025
- Lifestyle
- BBC News
Red dress created by hundreds of women to be displayed at Woven textile festival
A dress embroidered by 380 people from across the world is to go on display as part of a month-long celebration of Red Dress is a project led by artist Kirstie Macleod, which began in 2009 and involved work by 367 women and girls, 11 men and boys and two non-binary people from 51 will be displayed in Yorkshire for the first time as part of Woven, a biennial festival celebrating textile heritage crafts in Macleod said she was excited to be showcasing the piece at Oakwell Hall in Birstall. She said: "Oakwell Hall looks absolutely breathtaking. It has its own history and tradition, so it will be interesting to see The Red Dress in such a space."It's brilliant that they have this festival. I haven't been to an equivalent - a whole month of textile based happenings and events is fantastic." The Red Dress exhibition, which coincides with World Stitch Day on Sunday, will be the first time the item has been on display since Ms Macleod published a book about the tells the story of the dress's creation, as well as some of the stories of the people involved in creating 23 women have worn the dress, Ms Macloed said, but she has turned down many requests from people wanting to borrow it."You have to have contributed to the project to be able to wear the dress," she said."I really wanted it to have this very kind of strong, empowered feeling to it, but also hopefully be quite timeless."I have had so many people asking to wear it for various performances, weddings, even a coronation, but I said no because I'm trying to keep the focus of the project on the embroiderers and their stories."There was one curator from Bosnia who wore it and then a politician from Kosovo who was connected, otherwise it's all the embroiderers who have worn it."Woven festival runs from 1 to 30 June and is run by Kirklees Council. It was established in 2019 and takes place every other theme for 2025 is Connecting Culture, with more than 100 events designed to bring communities Natalie Walton said it would be the most "inclusive and diverse festival to date"."We're really excited to empower and connect communities together through the universal language of textiles, celebrating our rich heritage while looking toward the innovative future of the industry in the area," she said. Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
