From the Streets of Lagos to the CHANEL Runway: How 22-Year-Old Model Rachel Ojuromi Became Paris Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2027's "Breakout Star"
Confidence truly can take you to the furthest places~
Summary
- The street is the runway: Collaborated with close friend Debby Fasingha to transform Lagos markets and intersections into a runway packed with Y2K retro energy.
- Viral DIY videos: Used secondhand clothes from the Yaba market to recreate CHANEL looks, earning a comment and like from designer Matthieu Blazy alongside a runway invitation.
- Direct to the Grand Palais: Stepped outside Africa for the first time to walk the CHANEL Spring/Summer 2027 runway, stunning the audience in a gray and yellow tweed suit.
- Supporting local youth: Founded the cultural platform The Process Africa to provide resources and co-working spaces for African fashion and visual arts creators.
At the recently wrapped Spring/Summer 2027 Paris Fashion Week, a newcomer captured headlines across fashion media with her unmistakable presence. That newcomer is Rachel Ojuromi, a 22-year-old fashion creator and model from Lagos, Nigeria. Under the glass dome of the Grand Palais in October 2026, she made a striking appearance in a gray and yellow tweed suit from CHANEL’s new collection, completing her first official commercial runway walk and earning the title of the season’s breakout star. Behind this miraculous runway debut is a story full of passion and imagination.
Turning the Busy Corners of Lagos Into the Ultimate Y2K Runway
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Before breaking into the mainstream fashion world, Rachel was already a highly influential fashion creator on social media. Teaming up with her friend, designer and stylist Debby Fasingha, she turned everyday Lagos—from its busiest traditional markets and intersections to its gas stations—directly into her personal runway.
In her videos, she struts confidently with a professional runway walk, dressed in bold, color-blocked, and animal-print Y2K outfits, and can even balance a basket of bananas on her head with grace. The stark contrast between her powerful personal charisma and the ordinary street backdrops quickly earned her hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
Recreating CHANEL With Thrifted Clothes, One Comment Changed Everything
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Rachel grew up surrounded by clothes. Her mother used to run a clothing stall in the local market, which gave her an intuitive sense of clothing textures and styling from a young age. She is highly skilled at using limited resources to show off her creativity, often picking up old clothes from the Yaba thrift market and combining them with her own wardrobe and her friend’s creations to reconstruct looks.
The turning point that changed her life was a video of her and her team perfectly recreating a CHANEL Métiers d’Art look on the streets of Lagos using secondhand clothes. This video miraculously caught the attention of the CHANEL creative team, who were planning their next show, as well as designer Matthieu Blazy, who left the appreciative comment “Everything.” under the post. This social media connection eventually turned into an official invitation to walk in Paris.
A Stunning Debut at the Grand Palais in a Gray and Yellow Tweed Suit
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In October 2026, Rachel, who had never left Africa and was affectionately called “Ms. Paris” by her neighbors, actually arrived in Paris. She walked under the glass dome of the Grand Palais, wearing CHANEL’s latest gray and yellow tweed suit alongside the world’s top supermodels. This was not just her life’s first runway show, but the moment she brought her street dreams to the highest stage of fashion.
Forging Her Own Path While Opening Wings for Young African Creators
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Beyond modeling, Rachel is also a videographer and creative. In 2023, she founded the cultural platform The Process Africa. Knowing that Africa has many talented young people who lack resources, she hopes to use this platform to document and promote local youth creators in fashion, film, and visual arts, even opening up her own home as a shared workspace.
Rachel Ojuromi’s story shows that a fashionable presence is never determined by where you are. As long as your confidence and creativity are strong enough, any street corner can be a runway to the world.
Join POPBEE Circle and subscribe to the POPBEE Newsletter to receive instant updates, exclusive rewards, and discounts. Besides this article, here are more stories you might be interested in:
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