The world’s largest collaborative embroidery project comes to the Museum of Brisbane
When Guinness World Records contacted Kirstie Macleod about her red dress, they faced a dilemma.
“They said we absolutely loved your project and could give you five different awards. Which one would you like?” British textile artist said the following.
After all, Red Dress It was published on a double page in the 2026 edition as the world’s largest global collaborative embroidery project.
But the dress also covered the most countries for the production of one garment (51) and the largest age range of participants (from under-six to one contributor in their late 80s).
The silk dupion dress, which weighs 6.8 kilos, took 14 years (2009-2023) to make and used an estimated 1 billion stitches.
The works of 380 different tailors, including 367 women, 11 men and two non-binary, are on display at the Brisbane Museum until September.
Macleod envisioned the project as “a platform for vulnerable voices”.
“The dress is a very powerful symbol of femininity and depicts a presence, a form. I found it a very useful way to convey ideas of identity,” she said.
Macleod ran the project without funding for the first 11 years; He sent color samples to Africa, Asia, the Americas and throughout Europe and paid the tailors himself.
On Tuesday morning the dress was attracting a steady stream of admirers at the Brisbane Museum’s Fairfax Gallery.
St Lucia resident Lyn Roberts was one of the Allthreads Embroidery Community Norman Park who contributed a design of Uluru, kangaroo, gum leaves and coral to the project in 2018.
“The panel was completed, sent out, and most of us didn’t think about it after that,” Roberts said.
“It makes me feel great to see this, I’m humbled when you see the other work around it, which is so amazing, but there’s also pride in being part of such a positive project.”
Close examination of the garment reveals conflicting details. In a panel attended by six women in Rwanda’s capital Kigali, a man is seen killing a child with a black spiral machete that turns into a rainbow sun.
“It depicts the horrors of war and then their healing journey towards fulfilled lives and the community they have with other women,” Macleod said.
In 2009, two Palestinian women in a refugee camp in Lebanon contributed shoulder details. “They are still in the camp 17 years later,” Macleod said.
Red Dress It has been exhibited at the United Nations in Geneva and in museums around the world. But only 28 people wore it.
“I get a lot of requests from people all over the world who want to wear this dress to different performances, weddings, proms,” said Macleod.
“But sorry, no, this is just for the embroiderers of the project.”
What’s it like to wear? “They all say it makes them feel so empowered and they love the feeling of connecting with other women working on the dress,” she said.
The Queensland-specific dress will continue its journey to Rwanda in November and the UK in 2027.
Red Dress It is on display at the Brisbane Museum City Hall until 13 September. Entry is free.
Nick Dent is a Culture Reporter for the Brisbane Times covering arts, entertainment and things to do in the city.Connect via email.
