Designer Ivan Donev weaves human stories into Bulgaria's largest dress

On Bulgaria's Unification Day, September 6, the ancient stage of Plovdiv’s Ancient Theatre was transformed into a bridge between generations, draped in the most delicate creation of women’s hands: lace. Bulgaria’s largest dress, assembled from hand-crocheted lace squares contributed by people from 194 towns and villages across the country and by Bulgarian communities around the world, became the centrepiece of a concert performance featuring a musical and visual spectacle created by the Plovdiv Opera Orchestra, the Academic Folk Choir, the VAYA Quartet and 3D mapping by Petko Tanchev. In this timeless stage experience, the audience embarked on a journey from outer space to planet Earth, immersed in a story of memory, continuity and indomitable spirit.

The idea for “Bulgaria’s Largest Dress”, an art installation made from thousands of crocheted pieces, was conceived about two years ago. At its heart is award-winning designer Ivan Donev, recipient of a fashion “Oscar” and numerous other Bulgarian and international distinctions. He called on people to donate handmade crochet pieces that had been carefully preserved in Bulgarian families for decades.

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“The idea was to create a Bulgarian dress, but not a traditional costume, and to make it using a Bulgarian craft, the art of Kalofer lace-making. Rather than allowing the treasures created by the golden hands of our mothers and grandmothers to gather dust in mothball bags, we decided to give them new life, to show them to younger generations and bring them back into the light and before people’s eyes, so that we could admire them in the form of one great Bulgarian dress. This dress will continue to grow, and anyone who wishes to send in materials can continue to do so. It will grow every year and at any time,” Ivan Donev told BNR’s Radio Plovdiv.

Hundreds of volunteers took part in creating the dress. United under the motto “All of Bulgaria in One Dress”, they crafted its panels with care and dedication. The dress weighs 215 kilograms and covers approximately 300 square metres. “But behind these figures are not simply scale and a record. There are 513 human stories. Hundreds of hands and thousands of hours of work. Memories passed down from mother to daughter and from grandmother to granddaughter,” the designer emphasises.

According to Ivan Donev, every crocheted piece represents a small fragment of the Bulgarian soul, and when brought together, these fragments become one whole, a symbol of Bulgaria created by Bulgarian women, in a white thread that unites generations. This is why he pays tribute to every woman who, in the solitude of her home, wove into her work a fragment of her own destiny, as well as the marks left by her time.

“Many of these women are no longer among us, so I decided that illuminating the names of every single one of them with light and stars would be the most dignified way to honour their memory, their work and their legacy,” Ivan Donev says.

Thus, amid stirring music and golden glimmers illuminating Plovdiv’s ancient amphitheatre, the co-creators of Bulgaria’s largest dress emerged from anonymity. With its beauty and encoded messages, the dress is only beginning its journey, with plans to travel the world.

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Edited by Diana Tsankova 

English: R. Petkova