Over ten years ago, Adele Zhang, lecturer in design and curator/manager of the Jo Ann C. Stabb Design Collection, began a unique collaboration with UC Davis Health’s Cardiovascular Medicine Program in which the power of design brought focus on health education and social consciousness.

The UC Davis Red Dress Collection, the first interdisciplinary partnership between UC Davis Health and the Department of Design, spotlights the red dress which has become a national symbol for encouraging women to reduce their risks of heart disease. 

Zhang showcases garments from the collection in this video at the 16th Annual Women’s Virtual Heart Care Forum in February, the American Health Month, to remind people to take care of our hearts during the difficult times of pandemic.  

For over 10 years, students have created a collection of red dresses to raise awareness that heart disease is the leading cause of death among women. Each dress represents the student’s individual design aesthetics and cultures, while raising awareness for heart disease prevention and encouraging heart-healthy lifestyles.

Dresses from the collection have been displayed together with heart-health messages at the California State Capitol, Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts and the UC Davis Design Museum as well as in store fronts in downtown Davis.

Zhang teaches fashion design in the Department of Design. With her multicultural background, industry and business experience, she makes links between wearable product design and its real world application, where actuality and innovation are both being challenged. She received her B.S. in Industrial Design with a specialization in Apparel Design in China, and her M.F.A. in Textile Arts & Costume Design from UC Davis. She has created the first UC Davis study aboard program in Fashion in China and co-curated numerous shows at the UC Davis Design Museum, including the current “Appreciation and Adaptation: Homage to Global Textiles.”