This is a recording of a live online event held on Wednesday 26 October 2022 

The Red Dress is a 13-year, award winning global, collaborative embroidery project 2009 to 2022 conceived by British artist Kirstie Macleod. The initiative provides an artistic platform for women around the world, many of whom are marginalised and live in poverty, to tell their personal stories through embroidery.

Join Kirstie to hear how from 2009 to 2022, pieces of the Red Dress have travelled the globe being continuously embroidered onto. Constructed out of 84 pieces of burgundy silk dupion, the garment has been worked on by 336 women and 7 men, from 46 countries, with all 136 commissioned artisans paid for their work. The rest of the embroidery was added by willing audiences at various exhibitions and events. The Red Dress was also on display at our 150^th Anniversary exhibition at the Fashion & Textile Museum in 2022.

Initially the project sought to generate a dialogue of identity through embroidery, merging diverse cultures, with no borders. However, over the 13 years the dress has also become a platform for self-expression and an opportunity for voices to be amplified and heard.  Get inspired by Kirstie’s Red Dress Embroidery here.