Conceived by British artist Kirstie Macleod, The Red Dress exhibition provides an artistic platform for women around the world to tell their personal stories through embroidery. From 2009 to 2023, the panels making up the featured Red Dress travelled the globe being continuously embroidered onto. Constructed out of 85 pieces of burgundy silk dupioni, the garment has been worked on by 366 women/girls, 7 men/boys and 2 non-binary artists from 51 countries. (The total number of artisans is now 380!)

The burgundy red silk is richly colored and smooth with a slight shine to it. The embroideries have been created using hundreds of different colored threads of varying thickness, some are loud others subtle, some are smooth while others are metallic and shiny. The embroideries vary in size, shape and style. Each artisan was invited to create a motif that shared a part of their identity and culture. Some used designs specific to their family, village, or town, while others told stories from their past. Many of the embroiderers are established professionals, but there are also pieces created by first time embroiderers. The artists were encouraged to create a work that expressed their own identities whilst adding their own cultural and traditional experience. Some used specific styles of embroidery practiced for hundreds of years within their family, village, or town whilst others chose simple stitches to convey powerful events from their past. Some of the women are re-building their lives with the help of embroidery, by using their skill or being trained in embroidery to earn a decent and consistent living.

Embroiderers include female refugees from Palestine, Syria and Ukraine, women seeking asylum in the UK from Iran, Iraq, China, Nigeria and Namibia, survivors of war in Kosovo, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Rwanda, and DR Congo; impoverished women in South Africa, Mexico, and Egypt; individuals in Kenya, Japan, Turkey, Jamaica, Sweden, Peru, Czech Republic, Dubai, Afghanistan, Australia, Argentina, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, Tobago, Vietnam, Estonia, USA, Russia, Pakistan, Wales, Colombia and England, students from Montenegro, Brazil, Malta, Singapore, Eritrea, Norway, Poland, Finland, Ireland, Romania and Hong Kong as well as upmarket embroidery studios in India and Saudi Arabia.
Initially the project sought to generate a dialogue of identity through embroidery, uniting people around the world without borders. However, over the 14 years the dress has also become a platform for self-expression and an opportunity for voices to be amplified and heard.
Covered in millions of stitches, the 6.8 kg. silk Red Dress is weighted as much by the individual stories and collective voices waiting to be heard as by the threads and beads that adorn it.

The Red Dress has been exhibited in various galleries and museums worldwide, including Gallery Maeght in Paris, Art Dubai, Museo Des Arte Popular in Mexico City, the National Library of Kosovo, National Waterfront Museum in Wales, Fashion and Textile Museum, London, an event at the Royal Academy in London, and the Premio Valcellina Textiles award in Maniago, Italy where it won first prize in 2015. It will premiere on the West Coast at the Pacific Northwest Quilt & Fiber Arts Museum in January 2025!