The Red Dress: from bridal couture to therapy and empathy

Express Tribune

5 days ago

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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