Pakistan has one of the worst records of child marriages in the world. Almost a quarter of all Pakistani women in the last ten years have been married before the age of 18. The practice of child, early and forced marriage is widespread and occurs in all regions of Pakistan.

Bills to raise the legal marriage age to 18 have been rejected previously by the government on religious grounds, or by being influenced by decision makers in the country's Islamic Council.

The Pakistani bride is known to wear an elaborate wedding outfit — bright, colorful, heavily embroidered dresses. Every year, the Pakistani bridal-wear fashion industry hosts large events in which new styles are revealed by big name designers.

In collaboration with the nation's best known bridal-wear artist Ali Xeeshan, we meticulously designed a new kind of a bridal gown — one that symbolizes the trade-off that takes place when a girl is married young and is deprived of her right to an education.

“The Bridal Uniform” was crafted by merging traditional Pakistani wedding outfit embroidery patterns with an everyday government schoolgirl's uniform.

To launch the dress, we came up with the idea of hijacking the country's biggest bridal-wear fashion show, attended by hundreds of celebrities and well covered by media.

The campaign targeted people on two levels. Our first target audience was influencers and media personnel who could spread the conversation that would built pressure to involve policymakers and, in turn, the government. And second, through on-ground sessions, directly addressing the masses where these practices were widely prevalent. 

In addressing the problem, we had to also circumnavigate religious sensitivities, and device a plan that would be approachable to all by focusing on a developmental angle. The strategy, thus, was to emphasize what a girl loses when she is married off too early: education.

UN Women data showed us that most early marriages resulted in girls stopping their schooling, and therefore being condemned to an illiterate and unempowered life. Once that strategic pillar was set, we focused on a creative solution that would be disruptive enough to kickstart a conversation that would reach all the way into government circles.

The disruptive stunt went viral and generated almost 500 million social and news-media impressions, more than any campaign for this cause has ever done in the country. We had successfully utilized the existing media presence to cover our stunt for free.

The topic of child marriages started trending, and both the international and local press reported on it. A sitting senator of parliament took note and a bill to raise the minimum marriage age to 18 has now been approved by the Pakistan Senate. The senator has directly acknowledged the effect of this campaign in the efforts to pass the law.

#BridalUniform, besides being adopted by on-ground local NGOs to educate villagers on the importance of keeping girls in schools, has also made an appearance on catwalks in Berlin, LosAngeles and Oslo, and talks are underway to feature the stunt at New York Fashion Week.