El Gouna Film Festival Style Diaries: Festival-Proof Fashion on the Red Sea
Since its launch in 2017, the El Gouna Film Festival (GFF) has grown from a new entry on the calendar into one of the region’s leading film events, held in the purpose-built resort town of El Gouna on Egypt’s Red Sea coast. The 2025 edition, running from 16–24 October, once again mixes world cinema with a distinctly seaside glamour: premieres at the El Gouna Convention and Culture Centre by night, panels and industry sessions by day, all framed by marinas, lagoons and desert light.
This year, CairoScene and SceneStyled tapped Salma Malhas and Hayat Aljowaily—both closely involved with CineGouna’s emerging-talent programmes—to front a “Cinematic Season Style Guide,” linking GFF’s film industry role with its growing fashion influence.
El Gouna Film Festival Style: Red Carpet Meets Resort
For a festival that literally opens onto the sea, El Gouna Film Festival style has its own codes. On the red carpet, the silhouettes are every bit as dramatic as Cairo or Cannes, but fabrics and colours are tuned to the Riviera backdrop: saturated jewel tones against the marina, liquid metallics that pick up the lights along the Corniche, and pure white that works as well at a beach photocall as it does at a closing-night gala.
Regional fashion media, from Vogue Arabia to independent platforms, consistently spotlight GFF as a showcase for Arab designers. Recent seasons have highlighted stars such as Nelly Karim, Dorra Zarrouk, Razane Jammal and others in gowns by names including Tony Ward, Georges Chakra, Georges Hobeika, Zuhair Murad and Maison Yeya, turning the carpet into a living look-book of Middle Eastern couture.
At the same time, the festival has become a launchpad for younger Egyptian labels, giving them a rare global platform. Coverage of the event regularly notes how emerging designers and small brands gain visibility when their pieces appear on the El Gouna red carpet.
El Gouna Film Festival Style Diaries: What to Pack for the Red Sea
Because GFF is a resort-based festival, its fashion story stretches far beyond the evening step-and-repeat. Guests move between screenings, industry talks, boat rides and beach-side after-parties, often in a single day. That reality is exactly what CairoScene’s “Cinematic Season Style Guide with GFF’s Salma Malhas & Hayat Aljowaily” leans into, treating wardrobes as a 24-hour narrative rather than a single red-carpet moment.
For anyone planning their own Red Sea festival outfits, three pillars tend to define El Gouna dressing:
Daytime resort polish
Lightweight tailoring, relaxed shirting and flowing dresses that work in meeting rooms and on marina decks. The climate in October is warm but breezy, making breathable fabrics and layered styling practical as well as photogenic.Sunset statement pieces
As the sun drops over the lagoons, guests switch to bolder colour, sculptural jewellery and elevated sandals—exactly the sort of looks that have appeared in recent GFF style round-ups across regional media.After-dark glamour with a twist
For premieres and parties, full gowns, sleek column dresses and sharply cut tuxedos dominate, but often with coastal details: shell-inspired accessories, sea-glass tones and fabrics that move easily between indoor receptions and open-air terraces.
Egyptian Designers at the Heart of Egypt Resort Fashion
One of the reasons Egypt resort fashion feels so specific at El Gouna is the mix of global labels with homegrown creativity. Articles profiling the festival repeatedly underline how Egyptian designers—from couture houses to new ready-to-wear names—use the event to show what “modern Egyptian glamour” looks like to an international audience.
At the same time, jewellery houses such as Azza Fahmy have used the festival to present collections drawing on Pharaonic, Ottoman and regional motifs; pieces from the brand have been worn on the GFF carpet, blending cultural references with contemporary styling.
This layering of Egyptian craftsmanship with international couture is what makes the festival feel like a fashion lab as much as a film event: each year, the red carpet becomes a testing ground for how Arab identity, resort living and high glamour can coexist in one look.
From El Gouna to the Region’s Festival Circuit
Within less than a decade, GFF has established itself alongside Cairo and newer players such as Jeddah as part of a regional circuit of Arab film festivals, combining cinema with high-visibility red carpets. As platforms from CairoScene to SceneStyled continue to cover El Gouna Film Festival style with the same intensity as they cover premieres, the message is clear: what happens on the Red Sea doesn’t stay on the Red Sea—it sets the tone for how the Middle East wants to dress for culture, travel and celebration.
For Niche readers, that makes El Gouna more than a glamorous backdrop. It’s a real-time moodboard for Red Sea festival outfits and a window into how Egyptian fashion is quietly rewriting resort luxury—one carpet, one boat ride and one perfectly packed suitcase at a time.
