Rachel Ojuromi at Chanel: How a Viral Lagos Creator Made Her Paris Runway Debut
Photo: Isidore Montag / Gorunway.com
Before Paris, there was Lagos. Before Chanel, there were thrift runs. Before the Grand Palais runway, there was a 22-year-old stepping outside with her friends and turning everyday streets into a high-fashion stage.
At 22, Rachel Ojuromi, known online as @giverachelashot, walked her first global runway for Chanel’s Spring/Summer 2027 in Paris. It is a major milestone, but the most interesting part of the story isn't the show itself. It is what she built long before the invitation arrived.
Rachel did not wait for a fashion institution to tell her where fashion belonged.
Working alongside her best friend and stylist Debby Fasingha and camera operator Odey, Rachel began making fashion videos around Lagos. The settings were familiar: market stalls, neighborhood corners, and the Red Line rail overpass in Yaba. But they treated those spots differently. Buying vegetables became an editorial moment. Second-hand clothes sourced and upcycled from local markets were styled with the precision of haute couture.
Then came the video that changed everything. Rachel and Debby recreated looks from Chanel’s Métiers d’Art collection using entirely thrifted pieces. The video caught the attention of Chanel’s Creative Director, Matthieu Blazy, who left a single comment on Instagram: “Everything” with a heart emoji. Within months, that comment translated into a trip to Paris. Walking beneath the glass roof of the Grand Palais in a grey and yellow tweed set, Rachel carried more than just an outfit. She brought the work of the small team back home who helped her film every week after work. Backstage, she felt the usual combination of excitement and nervous worry about stumbling. But as she stepped onto the catwalk, she remembered that she belonged there.
That feeling is the real heart of the story.
Rachel’s rise shows that visibility does not have to begin with permission. Her videos never asked Lagos to look like Paris. The city’s movement, colors, streets, and everyday life were allowed to be part of the visual language. Much of contemporary African fashion is not being defined on formal stages or during official fashion weeks. It is being created every day through personal photography, styling, short videos, and the ways young people choose to document themselves.
Rachel Ojuromi made it to Paris because she saw the possibility in Lagos first. Her Chanel debut is the headline, but the story started with a phone, an outfit, a city, and the decision to start.
Sometimes you have to build your own runway before the world invites you onto theirs.
Photo Credit: Instagram / @giverachelashot (https://www.instagram.com/giverachelashot)
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