Michaela Coel at the red carpet of TIFF 2025. Image courtesy of Kuku Jewellery
British actress and writer Michaela Coel walked the red carpet at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) 2025 on 7 September 2025, wearing a plain espresso brown Sudanese toub with Sudanese jewellery, and Sudanese black henna on her hands and feet.
This landmark fashion statement marks the first time the Sudanese toub or fashion has been worn by a global celebrity at an international event.
The 50th TIFF is taking place in Toronto, Canada from 4 to 14 September 2025. Founded in 1976, the annual TIFF is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Coel attended TIFF 2025 to promote her latest film, The Christophers, which premiered at the film festival on 7 September. Directed by American filmmaker Steven Soderbergh, the black comedy film, starring Ian McKellen, Michaela Coel, Jessica Gunning, and James Corden, centres on estranged children of a well-known artist who employ a forger to finish his incomplete paintings in order to sell them.
However, Coel wanted to make more than just an appearance in the film. She wanted to make a statement. At the premiere of The Christophers, a now-viral video from the Instagram page @michaelacoelweb, dedicated to news and updates about Coel, shows her standing on stage between director Steven Soderbergh and co-star Jessica Gunning. Taking the microphone, she says: “My jewellery is also Sudanese. The necklace in particular as a nod to West Sudan where there is a very big war going on right now. My henna is Sudanese henna and everything I’m wearing is made by Sudanese women.” The audience then begins to applaud and she continues, “Thank you. They are people and pioneers in their country. And right now, that country is facing famine, violent and displacement of over 12 million people, which sounds like just a number but if you’e under 60, it’s the biggest humanitarian crisis that you’ve been alive to know about.”
She concludes by saying, “So, I wear this to honour them and to stand with them and say, I see them and to platform their businesses. This is Heba’s toub, this is Nisreen Kuku’s, that’s the name of the jewellery, Auntie Kanina did my henna.” This is followed by audiences prolonged applause.
Her earrings and necklace are by Sudanese jewellery designer and interior design engineer Nisreen Kuku of Kuku Jewellery, a Sudanese fine jewellery brand. These earrings an necklace are gold pieces of Al Qamar Boba or Fidwa. The white necklace is of wade’a or cowrie (or cowry) shells, which are historically used as ornaments or even currency, and hold symbolic and spiritual significance in Sudanese culture. With the wade’a necklace, Coel references West Sudan, shedding light on Darfur, which is experiencing alarming conditions due to famine and disease. The hardest-hit are Al Fasher’s Zamzam and the adjoining Abu Shouk camps. Under the siege of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the people of Al Fasher face imminent starvation. Coel also wore non-Sudanese jewellery. She commissioned custom grills from London jewelry brand Alighieri.
In a Vogue article about Coel’s Sudanese look at TIFF 2025, she credited US-based Sudanese strategy director Ebaa Elmelik, the co-founder of Media for Justice in Sudan and Keep Eyes on Sudan, with helping her put the look together. Elmelik connected Coel to Kuku and the henna designer.
Coel was born in London, England on 1 October 1987 as Michaela Boakye-Collinson to Ghanaian parents. Best known for creating and starring in the E4 television sitcom Chewing Gum, Coel is also a director an producer. She also starred in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), I May Destroy You (2020), Black Earth Rising (2018), and Been So Long (2018).
The war in Sudan began on 13 April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), creating one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises. An estimated 12 to 14 million people have been displaced, and over 150,000 lives lost. This ongoing crisis devastates the present and threatens both the past and future, putting Sudan’s rich cultural heritage at risk.
Many took to social media to commend Coel’s fashion statement.
ICYMI: At the #TIFF50 premiere of The Christophers, Michaela Coel used her red carpet moment to spotlight Sudan.
— ghanaspora (@ghanaspora) September 9, 2025
Her toub was made by Sudanese women, her henna by Aunty Kanina, and her jewelry by Nisreen Kuku, Alighieri grills, with a necklace referencing West Sudan.
“These are… pic.twitter.com/44aKScoHVl
Michaela Coel speaks about her wardrobe for the #TIFF50 premiere of ‘The Christophers’, which was all made by Sudanese women. pic.twitter.com/3NOTCfj4GC
— B.M. @ #TIFF50 (@britany_murphs) September 8, 2025
michaela coel for the toronto international film festival, wearing a sudanese toab by hiba rahma and traditional adornments by kuku jewellery pic.twitter.com/rF0g8QdrYC
— 𓃠 (@izzah_vl) September 8, 2025
Michaela Coel wearing custom handmade clothes made by Sudanese women at TIFF pic.twitter.com/dXlGnXxgzW
— Lola (@malbwgaf) September 8, 2025
Michaela Coel recognizing the genocide and famine in Sudan and using fashion to uplift Sudanese women.
— Carolyn Hinds 🇧🇧 #FreePalestine #CongoInCrisis (@CarrieCnh12) September 8, 2025
Please follow legitimate aid organizations like @KhartoumKitchen @SAPA_ORG @DWAG6 to and accounts like @BSonblast who's been doing amazing work for her people#KeepEyesOnSudan https://t.co/kXtgps8r7c
I love Michaela Coel so much 🥹🥹🥹#KeepEyesOnSudan https://t.co/Uiv4R1jDUx
— Munchkin (@BSonblast) September 8, 2025
