reem el adl

With her name long-attached to more than 30 TV hits and blockbuster films, costume designer Reem El Adl believes that she has to be involved in every aspect of the overall appearance of a character and that the costume designing process is not only about determining the features of a character but also studying them and drawing their arcs, even before casting their actors.

Reem worked on many films and TV series that took place in various times and settings, such as the TV series AL SHAWAREA AL KHLFEYA (2011), SEDNA AL SAYED (2012), SEGN EL NESA (Women's Jail) (2014), WAHET EL GHOROUB (2017), FI KOL ESBO’ YOUM GOMA’A (Every Week Has A Friday) (2020), along with the films AL SAFFAH (2009), SAMIR WA SHAHIR WA BAHIR (2010), NAWARA (2015), CLASH (2016), MAWLANA (2016), and SHEIKH JACKSON (2017).

Initially, El Adl attended the Faculty of Fine Arts to study sculpting. However, after working as an assistant costume designer on several films and TV shows, she was trained for a year by veteran costume designer Nahed Nasrallah.

After that, she kicked off her career by designing the costumes for the films OUTSIDE THE LAW (2007), STREET 18 (2008), and CYPHER (2008) after graduating from the Accademia Italiana Arte Moda Design in Florence, Italy.

El Adl then got her big break in 2009 in the film THE SERIAL KILLER by director Saad Hendawy, where she was able to create a different world and take audiences back to the 80s and 90s.

Following that, she went on to design costumes for films, including BOY AND GIRL (2009); THOSE DAYS (2010); SAMIR AND SHAHIR AND BAHIR (2010) — which was set almost entirely in the 70’s — the thriller SNAPSHOT (2012); the black comedy film ALI, THE GOAT, AND IBRAHIM (2016); and the social-political film MAWLANA (2017).

Throughout her career, El Adl has also participated in a number of international forums, where she received several awards for her contributions, starting with NAWARA (2015), which competed for several awards at the Dubai, Tetouan, and Malmö film festivals. The film also garnered her the Best Costume Design Award from the Annual Film Society Festival For Egyptian Cinema.

In the following year, she worked in CLASH (2016), which brought together Egyptian people of diverse backgrounds. The film held its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, where it was the opener of the prestigious Un Certain Regard Section. Moreover, CLASH garnered El Adl the Best Costume Designer Award from the Arabian Cinema Awards.

Other titles that El Adl worked on include SHEIKH JACKSON (2017), where El Adl brilliantly blended Islamic attire with Michael Jackson's most iconic outfits for Ahmad Al Fishawy and Ahmed Malek — who played the older and younger versions of a sheikh who is a Michael Jackson fan — and EXT. NIGHT (2018), for which she received the Best Costume Design Award at the Egyptian National Film Festival. Both films held their world premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival.

When it comes to her work, El Adl has an interest in psychological dramas like the thriller film THE GUEST (2019), which world premiered at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia, where it won the Audience Award. It also received other awards from the Malmö and New Vision film festivals.

She also worked on the film ABU SADDAM by Nadine Khan, which featured in the 43rd Cairo International Film Festival’s Official Competition, and the TV drama WAHET EL GHOROUB (2017) by Kamla Abuzekri, which earned her the Best Costume Design Award at the Cinema Syndicate Awards.

Her other prominent TV projects, in no particular order, include SEGN EL NESA (2014), QESET HOB (Love Story) (2010), AL SHAWAREA AL KHALFEYA (2011), SEDNA AL SAYED (2012), FI KOL ESBO’ YOUM GOMA’A (2020), two episodes of Shahid’s smash hit serial drama NEMRA2 (2020), the Ramadan 2022 drama BE TOLOOA’ AL ROUH, and the Shahid original WESH WE DAHR (2022).

In terms of ads, El Adl made her mark on several distinctive and star-studded commercials that created a buzz, among which were 7UP with Ahmed Fahmy, Chipsy and Orange featuring Akram Hosny and Yasmeen Raess, El Garhy Steel, Vodafone’s Fleksawya ad featuring Mohamed Saad and Dina El-Sherbiny, Aqwa Kart for Etisalat with Mohamed Ramadan, Orange’s Millionaire ad featuring Ali Rabea, and Molto Fino and Magnum starring Maged El-Kedwany, Ahmed Malek, and Ruby.

Also, marking her first theatrical experience, El Adl designed the costumes for the dancers and performers in the musical play COCO CHANEL. She also designed two dresses for Sharihan — the heroine of the play.

Following her success in COCO CHANEL, she proceeded to design the costumes for the musical play CHARLIE, which was staged in the 2023 Riyadh Season.

Furthermore, El Adl has always been keen on supporting young filmmakers by joining their short films and debut features. In 2021, she joined the short film KHADIJA by Morad Mostafa, which was officially selected to compete in the El Gouna Film Festival and Carthage Film Festival’s official competitions; LAMA KAN EL BAHR AZRAQ by director Amr El Sewfy, which joined the 43rd Cairo International Film Festival’s Short Film Competition; QAHWET FERYAL by Mohannad El-Kashef; and MAMA, which was directed by Naji Ismail and featured in the 44th edition of Cairo International Film Festival.

She also served as a jury member in the 44th Cairo International Film Festival in the Horizons of Arab Cinema Competition. Moreover, she was selected as a jury member at the 2021 Alexandria Short Film Festival.

Additionally, at the fifth edition of the El Gouna Film Festival, El Adl co-instructed a Cinematic Costume Design workshop with prolific costume designer Deborah Landis and hosted a masterclass in costume design.

She also gave a lecture at the 43rd Cairo International Film Festival’s Cairo Industry Days about costume designing in the cinema industry.

Finally, during the COVID-19 pandemic, El Adl launched an initiative inviting fellow costume designers to contribute to filling the deficit facing the medical sector by manufacturing reusable cotton face masks.

As for Reem’s most recent projects, 2023 has been a year full of success after success for the costume designer, starting with Mohammad Shaker Khodeir’s Ramadan 2023 drama TAHT EL WESAYA, which earned her the Critics’ Award for Best Costume Designer at the Hamsa International Festival For Arts And Literature.

She also worked on Karim El Adl’s comedy film EL AMEEL SEFR, which starred Akram Hosny in his first cinematic solo starring role. Reem’s latest however, is Hadi El Bagoury’s Shahid original mini-series SAFFAH AL GIZA, which is based on a true story and starred Ahmed Fahmy in the role of Egypt’s notorious serial killer Gaddafi Farag.

Fresh off the success of SAFFAH AL GIZA, Reem also designed the costumes for two Ramadan 2024 series; Nadine Khan’s MASAR EGBARI and Mohamed Salama’s EMBRATOREYET MEEM.

She also designed the costumes for Vodafone Egypt’s Ramadan 2024 campaign as well as the WE Ramadan 2024 campaign.

Reem is currently working on Jaylan Auf's debut feature THE WEDDING DRESS, as well as Mohamed Diab’s BLACK LION and Abu Bakr Shawky's 67TH SUMMER.

El Adl also recently took part in the Cannes NEXT section of the Cannes Film Festival’s Marché du Film, which aimed to showcase some of the hottest creative talents in the Arab World.