SELECTS: Decoding Egyptian Actress Rosaline Elbay’s Red Carpet Looks

Speaking with Rosaline Elbay about red carpets begins with a confession.

“I find red carpets really scary,” she admits with a laugh. “I know it’s weird for an actor to say, but I’m not necessarily comfortable being the center of attention.” Even something as simple as being the center of attention for a birthday song can overwhelm her.

The irony, of course, is that Elbay has spent years stepping into the brightest spotlights imaginable. From international film festivals to regional premieres, she has built a reputation as one of Egypt’s most globally visible actors, from Egyptian hits like ‘Kalabsh’ and ‘Qabeel’ to international productions such as ‘Ramy’ and ‘The Diplomat.’

Yet behind the polished images is a far more anxious ritual.

“At home, or when I’m working with my stylist, I know exactly how to pose,” she says. “Then I get on the red carpet and suddenly I forget everything.” She jokes with her team “I become a chess piece,” she says, mimicking the stiff, slightly frozen stance she falls into when the cameras begin flashing. “My face starts twitching. It’s horrifying.”

What changed her relationship to the spectacle, she says, was reframing what a red carpet could be. Instead of treating it as a moment to be seen, she began approaching it as a chance to tell a story.

“When I’m wearing something that has its own narrative, it becomes easier,” Elbay explains. “Then I don’t feel like I’m standing there saying, ‘Hi, look at me.’ I’m saying: look at this story. Look at the people behind it.”

Over the years, that philosophy has shaped a series of memorable appearances—each outfit carrying an anecdote, a collaboration, or a reflection of her values spotlighting designers and ideas she believes in.

Look One | SAG Awards March 2026

At the 2026 SAG Awards, Elbay’s look emerged from a collaboration that bridged continents. Working with stylists Wayman and Micah for the first time, the initial Zoom call began like most fittings: mood boards, references, and a long list of fashion houses.

But Elbay quickly steered the conversation toward something more personal, highlighting that she would love to wear designers from the region if possible. Her stylists embraced the idea immediately, incorporating designers from the Middle East alongside global labels. At the fitting, nearly twenty dresses awaited her, nearly half of them from the region.

The final choice came almost instantly. The moment she stepped out wearing a gown by Saudi designer Eman AlAjlan, the room fell silent. “Everyone was like, ‘Oh my God—that’s the dress.’ And that was it.”

Reflecting on the night, Elbay shares, “wearing regional designers on an international stage feels grounding: “It’s not just clothing,” she says. “It’s about an entire region and the art that’s coming from it.”
Eman Al Ajlan Gown
Lagos Jewellery
Styling done by Wayman + Micah

Look Two | El Gouna Closing October 2025

If the SAG Awards look came together through careful fittings, Elbay’s El Gouna closing ceremony outfit came together through pure improvisation and a rich network of women determined to make it happen.

She hadn’t planned to attend the ceremony at all. “I was supposed to go to the opening, but everything changed,” she says. Festival organizers insisted she stay until the end. “And suddenly I was panicking because I had nothing to wear.”

What followed was a whirlwind of collaboration. “All these actresses were checking with their stylists to see if they had spare dresses,” she recalls. Designers offered to rush pieces from Cairo. Friends started calling one another.

The look came together with a late night epiphany from Elbay. She remembered she had a Sahara Collection skirt originally made for her in 2018 and a thrifted bodysuit she’d bought in New York for $20 ((just in case it came in useful for an afterparty). “At 3am I texted the stylist and said, ‘What if we turn these into a dress?’”

The next morning, the stylist arrived with a tailor. The two pieces were stitched together into a new silhouette just hours before the ceremony. Then came the finishing touches. Azza Fahmy's team, who has a longstanding relationship with Elbay, opened their store so she could select jewelry, while stylists scrambled to secure last-minute hair and makeup appointments as friends rallied around her to pull everything together.

“I remember thinking: this is not about me,” she says. “Fifteen people got me here. People love to imagine actresses competing with each other,” she adds. “But most of the time we’re really helping each other.”
Azza Fahmy Jewellery
The Sahara Collection Skirt
Thrifted House of CB Top
She Clutches Bag
Styling by Ayat Seif El Nasr

Look Three | Kaleidoscope US Press Tour Dec 2022

For the press tour of the Netflix series Kaleidoscope, Elbay chose something deeply personal: a floral dress designed by Maram, who had been her best friend in middle school. “I really wanted to wear something she made,” Elbay says. She had worn the designer’s work before at El Gouna, but the American press tour felt like the right moment to showcase it.

“It was my first big U.S. PR campaign,” she explains. “And wearing something made by someone who knew me from childhood felt like being hugged by an old friend.” The decision reflects the way Elbay approaches clothing in moments of global visibility. Rather than tailoring her look to international expectations, she tries to stay grounded in her own relationships and history.

“If I think too much about the international gaze, my head would explode,” she laughs. “I just try to be true to what I’m feeling at that moment.”
Maram Official Top
Azza Fahmy Jewellery

Look Four | Cairo Film Festival Tatreez 2019

At the 2019 Cairo International Film Festival, Elbay stepped onto the carpet designed to carry layers of history and craftsmanship. The look, inspired by traditional Tatreez embroidery, was created with designer Kojak and crafted in collaboration with women from the grassroots initiative Nilfgaard – a program supporting refugee artisans and funded in part by UNHCR.

The project struck a personal chord. Part of Elbay’s family traces its roots to Palestine and North Sinai, and she grew up surrounded by traditions shaped by that history, like her grandma having traditional face tattoos. Looking back, she realized that many of these practices were not widely shared among her peers growing up. Years later, she continued the tradition in her own way. “I have small tattoos on my fingers,” she says with a laugh. “My mom doesn’t know this yet.”

For the dress design, Elbay photographed antique Tatreez pieces passed down through her family and sent the motifs to the designer and to jeweler Farah Abdel Hamid, who created custom jewelry echoing the embroidery’s geometry. Rather than reproducing traditional patterns exactly, the dress deconstructed them into smaller shapes scattered across the fabric. When people asked about the look on the carpet, it gave her an opening to talk about the tradition behind it and her family history.

“I like things having connectivity to something outside myself,” Elbay reflects.Custom Kojak Studio Dress
Custom FforFarah Jewellery

Look Five | El Gouna Film Festival 2019

Earlier that same year at El Gouna Film Festival, Elbay wore a striking dress constructed from recycled materials—a collaboration that began when designer Kojak approached her with a concept.

The story behind Elbay’s recycled feather look at El Gouna began before she ever stepped into the dress. Kojak had already been developing the piece with NilFurat and Up-Fuse when, in the middle of planning her looks for co-hosting the festival’s opening ceremony, he suddenly saw the fit. Elbay already had an existing relationship with Up-Fuse, as well as with the UNHCR, and felt like a meeting point between people and causes she already cared deeply about. “Kojak brought me onto this project when it was partly underway,” she says. “I was so grateful. It was a wonderful, serendipitous marriage of causes and people I care about.”

The look arrived not as a made-to-order red carpet moment, but as an existing idea finding the right person to carry it. For Elbay, fashion is most powerful when it allows her to step onto the carpet in service of a larger story.
Custom Kojak Studio Dress
NilFurat UpFuse
UpFuse Bag