Nigerian model and creative Rachael Ojuromi has made her Chanel runway debut at the fashion house’s Spring/Summer 2027 show in Paris, taking a fashion recreation she staged in Lagos to the Chanel runway. Ojuromi, 22, walked in Chanel’s SS27 presentation at the Grand Palais on October 5, where designer Matthieu Blazy presented his latest collection for the French fashion house.

For the show, Ojuromi wore a chartreuse-and-ash tweed look, featuring a yellowish-green and grey palette, with a crimson handbag. The outfit was part of Blazy’s SS27 collection, which brought Chanel’s signature tweed together with different textures and accessories.

Photo: Rachael Ojuromi

Her Chanel debut is also connected to a project she created in Lagos with Fasingha and photographer Odey Ikpä. The trio recreated looks inspired by Blazy’s Chanel Métiers d’Art collection using thrifted pieces and clothes they already owned, then photographed them in different parts of Lagos. Rather than copy the original presentation, they placed the looks in familiar city settings and gave the project a distinctly Nigerian setting.

The project soon drew attention to Ojuromi, Fasingha and Ikpä. Ojuromi said the idea was not simply to copy Chanel’s collection, but to capture the feeling behind Blazy’s work and interpret it through her own surroundings. The approach allowed the Lagos shoot to stand on its own rather than mirror the original collection.

Photo: Rachael Ojuromi

Blazy later noticed the project, creating a link between the Lagos recreation and Ojuromi’s appearance in Paris. Ojuromi has described the opportunity as the result of several steps rather than one defining moment.

For Ojuromi, modelling is part of a wider creative career. Before pursuing it seriously, she worked in filmmaking and creative direction and founded The Process Africa, a platform focused on documenting and supporting young African creatives. Her projects with Fasingha became another outlet for that work, often using Lagos as their backdrop.

Photo: Rachael Ojuromi

Her work in Lagos eventually opened a door to Paris, adding a major international runway credit to the creative career she had already been building.

Nigerian-British designer Kanyinsola Onalaja presented her Spring/Summer 2027 collection, Re:Birth, at London Fashion Week on Sunday, September 20, marking her first appearance on the event’s official calendar. The presentation came two months after a fire destroyed her London studio, warehouse and more than a decade of her work.

The fire at Onalaja’s studio and warehouse in northwest London destroyed past collections, samples, fabrics, sketchbooks, bespoke commissions and wholesale orders. Her mother had also recently sent her Istituto Marangoni graduate collection to London, along with pieces from some of her earlier collections. Those pieces were lost in the fire as well. The blaze reportedly lasted four days before it was extinguished.

Photo: ca.fashionnetwork.com

After the fire, Onalaja moved into a new studio and continued working towards London Fashion Week. She also returned to an unfinished 2020 project called Rising From the Ashes. The idea became the starting point for Re:Birth, with the collection drawing from the fire and what came after it.

Re:Birth is divided into three stages, The Burn, The Ash and The Rebirth. The opening looks use burnt orange shades and textures inspired by glowing embers. The colours then shift to smoky grey and black before brighter shades and flashes of light appear in the final stage.

Photo: ca.fashionnetwork.com

Handwork runs through the collection, with broken beads, fringe and feathers used across several pieces. Embroidery, fabric painting and dyeing bring Yoruba and Edo influences into the designs, while Onalaja’s 1970s-inspired “disco glam” style appears in the heavily embellished occasionwear.

The label also offers an extended size range. Onalaja’s official London Fashion Week profile lists sizes from XXS to XXXXL and describes the brand as focused on demi-couture womenswear, embroidery and embellishment. Founded in 2014, the label has dressed celebrities including Tems, Olivia Dean and Ciara.

Photo: ca.fashionnetwork.com

Rather than recreate what was lost, Re:Birth turns the experience into a new beginning, moving from the imagery of fire and ash towards colour, light and renewal

Wisdom Kaye started making fashion videos in 2020, filming styling ideas at home and posting them on TikTok. Six years later, the fashion creator has received one of the industry’s honours named after the late Virgil Abloh.

Kaye was presented with the Virgil Abloh Award, presented by LVMH, at Harlem’s Fashion Row’s 19th Annual Fashion Show & Style Awards in New York on September 8. The ceremony, held at The Glasshouse, was part of the events surrounding New York Fashion Week and recognised Black creatives across fashion, media and culture.

The award is particularly fitting for Kaye because his route into fashion did not begin with a traditional fashion job. His online presence came first. He built an audience through styling videos before moving into modelling, brand campaigns, runway appearances and major fashion events.

Kaye’s early TikTok videos were built around styling and visual transformation. He used clothes, editing and different characters to create short fashion-focused videos from his home. His work soon attracted attention from the fashion industry, and he was signed by IMG Models.

Wisdom Kaye speaking at the podium after winning the Virgil Abloh Award at the 19th Annual Harlem’s Fashion Row Style Awards.

From there, the Houston-born creator began working with some of fashion’s biggest names. Harlem’s Fashion Row lists Dior, Fendi, Prada, Valentino, Ralph Lauren, Tiffany & Co., Coach and AMI Paris among the brands he has worked with. He has also walked for Balmain.

His move from social media creator to fashion professional has also included appearances on some of the industry’s biggest stages. In 2024, Kaye made his Met Gala debut wearing a dramatic Robert Wun look. The appearance further established him as a fashion figure beyond TikTok, while his online platform remained an important part of his career.

In 2025, Kaye was included in the inaugural TIME100 Creators list, recognising creators whose influence extends beyond social media. A year later, he took another step into the traditional fashion establishment when he joined the expert panel for the 2026 LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers. LVMH lists him alongside editors, stylists, creative directors and other established figures in the fashion industry.

That progression makes his Virgil Abloh Award notable. Abloh himself became known for challenging the usual boundaries between luxury fashion, streetwear, music and popular culture. He founded Off-White and became Louis Vuitton’s Men’s Artistic Director in 2018, a position he held until his death in 2021.

Wisdom Kaye speaking at the  Virgil Abloh Award at the 19th Annual Harlem’s Fashion Row Style Awards.

Kaye’s career has followed a different route, but there is a clear connection in the way both understood the importance of culture beyond the traditional runway. Kaye first built an audience through his own content before fashion houses, modelling agencies and major events became part of his professional life.

At Harlem’s Fashion Row, his award was announced alongside honours for Erykah Badu, Brandon Blackwood, Jahleel Weaver, Audrey Smaltz and Recho Omondi. Badu received the Fashion Icon Award, Blackwood was named Designer of the Year, Weaver received Stylist of the Year, Smaltz received the Ann Lowe Maverick Award and Omondi was named Editor of the Year.

For Kaye, the Virgil Abloh Award marks another stage in a career that began with a phone, a wardrobe and an audience on social media. What started as fashion content made at home has grown into work with global fashion houses, appearances at the Met Gala, a place among TIME’s leading creators and, now, an award carrying the name of one of fashion’s most influential modern figures.