Rachel Ojuromi was just making content she loved when the famous fashion house Chanel cast her for their runway show in Paris. On Oct. 5, her dreams came true when she made her fashion debut during Paris Fashion Week.
Ojuromi, a 22-year-old content creator from Nigeria, has been transforming the streets of Lagos, Nigeria into her own runway show. With help from her best friend, stylist, and designer Debby Fashinga, the dynamic duo turned their artistic visions into reality. Their art included the recreation of Chanel’s 2026 Métiers d’Art show, which caught the attention of the French house’s artistic director, Matthieu Blazy.
Blazy is also responsible for casting breakout Indian born and raised model Bhavitha Mandava into the show after the model had been scouted by a modeling agency on the subway in New York City. Mandava was amongst those seen strutting across the runway for Chanel during Paris Fashion Week 2026, making history as the first Indian high fashion model to open a Chanel fashion show.
Content creation may seem easy to outsiders looking in, but Ojuromi credited her years of hard work and dedication for granting her this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. “That video was a vehicle that led us to where we are now,” Ojuromi said in an interview with Vogue. “It’s a series of compounding events. It’s never overnight. It’s all your life you work towards something.”
Chanel placed Ojuromi in a pastel yellow and gray tweed shirt and a matching pastel yellow tweed midi skirt, paired with silver strappy sandal heels. Additionally, she carried a textured red leather bag and a multicolored plaid tweed jacket. Her look was No. 73 in the lineup. “They wanted me to look like me and I really appreciate that,” Ojuromi told Vogue.
As a young Black woman who dreamed of making it in the fashion industry, Ojuromi faced rejection in the past. She spoke of an interaction between her and a model scout in an interview with BBC Africa: “I was speaking to a model scout and he said, ‘Oh you will never do runway.’” But snagging such a major modeling opportunity proved him wrong. Ojuromi recognized her talent, telling BBC Africa, “Oh, it is possible for my dreams to come true.”
The weight of this opportunity didn’t settle in until the day of the show approached. Although she had put herself on a major platform where everyone can see and interact, she was still nervous. Before the show, Ojuromi was found crying backstage, and models like Anok Yai and Bhavitha Mandava helped soothe her, reminding her how much she deserved to be there.
When she hit the stage, it was as if she was in Lagos all over again. “I was having fun,” she told Vogue.
Ojuromi’s story demonstrates that consistency is key. She didn’t just dream about it; she worked every day to push herself closer to her goal while continuing to see it as a passion she so greatly loves. She reminds herself and those following her story that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. Her message for her people back home in Lagos is, “You can dream, you can believe in something, and it can just work out.”
As living proof of the concept, Ojuromi serves as an inspiration for all dreamers.
