Rachel Ojuromi Shares Insights Into Her Fashion Journey at GTCO Masterclass

Rachel Ojuromi brought her story of turning Lagos streets into a runway to the GTCO Fashion Weekend masterclass on November 8, 2026. Speaking as one of the featured creatives at the two-day event held at the GT Centre in Oniru, the 22-year-old filmmaker and model detailed how she built a career without relying on studios, luxury budgets or traditional fashion gatekeepers.

Ojuromi’s approach to content creation is rooted in a deliberate choice to work outdoors. “Sometimes last year, I decided I didn’t want to shoot anything in the studio,” she told the audience. “When I’m in places, I tend to feel cooked up, and I don’t like to feel trapped. So when I’m in a place that’s like outside, there’s so much that could happen… the unpredictability makes me feel alive”. That instinct led her to abandon conventional studio setups in favour of street photography and creative direction, a decision that would ultimately define her visual identity.

Photo: Instagram/@gtcoplc

Before fashion, Ojuromi’s ambitions pointed elsewhere. Growing up surrounded by clothes because her mother sold them in local markets, she initially set her sights on medicine, inspired by Ben Carson’s autobiography Gifted Hands. But complications with her college application led to a gap year, during which she discovered filmmaking and decided she could push boundaries through creativity instead of surgery.

Teaming up with her childhood friend and stylist Debby Fasingha, Ojuromi began piecing together looks from secondhand and thrifted clothing sourced largely from Yaba market. They filmed across Gbagada, Yaba and other parts of Lagos, often without disrupting traffic, turning everyday locations into high-fashion sets. Their output was prolific: for six months beginning in March 2026, they committed to publishing a new fashion video every day. Ojuromi summed up her approach simply: “You should just use resources you have right now”.

Photo: Instagram/@gtcoplc

The turning point arrived when Ojuromi and Fasingha recreated looks from Chanel’s Métiers d’Art 2026 collection. After Chanel’s casting director, Anita Bitton, gave them clearance to publish their versions, the clip caught the attention of several influential figures, including Chanel’s creative director, Matthieu Blazy, who left a comment reading “Everything” with a heart emoji. The conversations that followed led to Ojuromi’s runway debut at Chanel’s Spring/Summer 2027 show at the Grand Palais in Paris on October 5, 2026, where she walked in Look 73, a grey and yellow tweed shirt and midi skirt. By September, she had signed with modelling agencies in New York, Paris, London and Canada.

Beyond modelling, Ojuromi is a filmmaker and creative director, and she founded The Process Africa, an arts and culture platform dedicated to documenting and spotlighting young African creatives across fashion, film and visual culture. Her work continues to sit at the intersection of fashion, film and storytelling, with Lagos remaining central to the perspective she brings to each project.