Rachel Ojuromi has gone from turning the streets of Lagos into her personal runway to walking the Chanel runway at Paris Fashion Week.
The 22-year-old Nigerian model and filmmaker made her Chanel debut on October 5, 2026, at the Grand Palais in Paris for the house’s Spring/Summer 2027 collection, titled La Conversation — Part Three — Different Faces of the Same Coin, designed by artistic director Matthieu Blazy.
It was her first Chanel runway and her first time out of Africa. Hours before the show, she posted a fit-check video in front of the Eiffel Tower with the caption: “First time out of the continent, kinda shy, world tour?“
From Wanting To Be A Neurosurgeon To Lagos Street Style
Ojuromi’s path to modelling was not planned. In an interview with BBC Africa on August 12, 2026, she said: “I never intended to be a model. I wanted to be a doctor, a neurosurgeon to be specific.”
Born and raised in Lagos, she studied film and became interested in creative direction and fashion films. With her best friend, stylist and designer Debby Fasingha, and photographer Odey Ikpa, she began creating short fashion films and fit-check videos in everyday locations around the city.
Instead of studios, they used markets, traffic, neighbourhoods and the Red Line rail overpass in Yaba as their runway. She mixed pieces from her own wardrobe, Nigerian labels, and thrifted finds from Yaba Market.
“We’re pulling clothes together. We go to that market and we sift through a lot of clothes that are sent from the west,” she told Interview Magazine. Fasingha’s skill for remaking second-hand pieces became central to their work. “We’re using what we have in a really good way,” Ojuromi said.
Her mother, who sold clothes for years, also influenced her love for thrift. The videos drew on maximalist Nollywood style, fashion archives and streetwear, but kept Lagos in the frame.
The approach helped her stand out online as @giverachelashot. Her TikTok and Instagram videos turning grocery runs and market walks into fashion moments went viral, with one recreation reportedly earning over 200,000 likes.
The Thrifted Chanel Recreation That Changed Everything
The turning point came in July 2026. Ojuromi and Fasingha recreated looks from Chanel’s Métiers d’Art 2026 collection, which had originally been staged in the New York subway, using entirely thrifted and second-hand pieces.
They staged the tribute across Lagos landmarks, including Yaba Market and the Red Line rail overpass. The project showed how they could interpret a luxury house without its resources.
The work reached Matthieu Blazy himself. The Chanel creative director commented on her post with a single word: “Everything ❤️“. The comment drew more than 14,000 likes and circulated widely.
According to reports, Ojuromi signed with a modelling agency only a week before Paris. She is now represented by four agencies: No Smoking NYC in New York, Safe Management in Paris, SUPA Worldwide in London, and Next Canada as her mother agency. Grammy winner SZA also amplified her work.
Ojuromi has resisted calling it an overnight success. In interviews with Vogue and i-D, she framed it as years of ideas and persistence. She had long named Chanel and Blazy, whom she admired since his Bottega Veneta years, among her dream houses.
What Happened at Chanel Spring/Summer 2027
At the Grand Palais, Chanel presented its Spring/Summer 2027 collection under Blazy. Reuters reported the show featured sheer skirt suits, colourful tweed, tiger-print pieces, fluid dresses and reworked Chanel accessories, with a set that included a giant moon and illuminated birds above a vivid, otherworldly floor.
Ojuromi appeared in a look that balanced Chanel codes with a youthful twist: a classic tweed blazer paired with a lemon-yellow skirt and a cherry-red Chanel handbag, with braids pulled back in a streamlined beauty look. Vogue noted the yellow held personal meaning as Fasingha’s favourite colour.
The emotional weight was clear in preparations. Ojuromi told Vogue the confirmation felt unreal, and she cried during the first lineup. More experienced models including Bhavitha Mandava and Anok Yai helped calm her nerves.
After the show, she dedicated the moment to her mother, Fasingha, Ikpa and friends who supported her from the early street shoots.
More Than A Viral Moment
Ojuromi is also a creative director and founder of The Process Africa, launched in 2023. The platform documents how young African creatives in fashion, film and visual arts build their work, offering weekly features, events and exhibitions to give emerging talent credits and visibility while they are still developing.
Her story challenges the traditional path into high fashion. Rather than waiting for institutions, she built an audience first on the streets of Lagos, then gained industry recognition.
At 22, from market stalls and banana trays in Yaba to the Chanel runway at the Grand Palais, Rachel Ojuromi has shown how authenticity, resourcefulness and collaboration can carry a Lagos street experiment to Paris.
