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.

Solange Omon has been named Victoria’s Secret’s newest Angel after making her runway debut at the brand’s 2026 Fashion Show on Sunday, October 18, in Culver City, California. The 21-year-old model won the title after competing in Angels Among Us, a YouTube docuseries that followed the search for a new face for the lingerie brand.

Omon appeared in the show’s Autumn Changes segment, walking alone in a gold-winged outfit. She wore a nude-coloured lingerie set with black lace detailing and draped fabric attached to her fingers. The competition brought aspiring models from across the United States into the running for the role.

Photo: Getty Images

Victoria’s Secret received more than 100,000 applications for the opportunity. Omon was among 10 women selected for the programme, which included photo shoots, fittings and runway training in New York. She advanced to the final three alongside Andreína Martínez and Tatyana Tinsley before winning the competition.

Originally from Cameroon, Omon lives in Maine, where she attended college and worked before entering the competition. She worked as a programme coordinator at nonprofit organisations, helping Black and immigrant young people with job applications, professional networking and access to mentors. She also connected them with educational and community resources.

Photo: Getty Images

Omon’s prize includes an exclusive modelling contract with IMG Models.

Victoria’s Secret chief executive Hillary Super welcomed Omon to the brand, praising her individuality and personality. The company’s executive creative director, Adam Selman, also commended her authenticity and determination throughout the selection process.

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.