Presented at the Grand Palais underneath an astonishing recreation of the solar system, Matthieu Blazy’s Chanel debut was the most anticipated show of the season. The French-Belgian 41-year-old was about to become only the third designer, after Coco herself, to lead the label. The pressure was on, and he delivered. But in the 48 hours following the show, it’s become clear that the defining element was not the set, marvelous as it was, nor merely the fantastic clothes Blazy proposed for spring. It was the model Awar Odhiang.
As all the models paraded in a line at the finale, Odhiang broke the formation. She smiled and twirled and clapped. She lifted the hem of her embroidered skirt and shimmied as Blazy emerged from backstage—then they locked eyes, ran to each other, and hugged. Years and years of history, the weight of a legacy, melted in the warmth of that simple moment of unbridled joy. Blazy’s debut wasn’t just filled with great clothes, but great energy—his playful spirit enhanced with a little help from Odhiang. What we all want to know: Was the moment planned?
“That’s a question that I’ve had quite a bit now,” Odhiang says over the phone, calling in from Paris after two days on set shooting for this magazine (exactly what, you’ll have to wait to find out). “It was completely unscripted and spontaneous and in the moment,” she adds. “I was speaking with Matthieu before the show, and I’ve always just been so excited and happy for him, he is an incredible person in and outside of fashion,” she adds. “He had told me, ‘This is your moment, this is a chance for you to just enjoy it, do what you do, and do you,’” Odhiang recalls, “and so that’s exactly what I did.”
Odhiang is only the third Black woman to close a Chanel show in its 115-year history, following Alek Wek in 2004 and Adut Akech in 2018, both under Karl Lagerfeld’s tenure as its artistic director. If it feels like Blazy has broken through by landing the most coveted role in fashion, then so has Odhiang.
“I felt such immense, not pressure in any way, but honor,” she says, “and I felt like I had this responsibility, to be honest, to represent Matthieu and Chanel in the best possible way.” But any possible nerves she could have felt in the moment had been dispelled by her sense of occasion. “I was feeling so happy and proud and empowered as a woman,” she notes. “Matthieu makes clothes for women, he loves women. I can speak for all of the models backstage, that’s how everybody was feeling. The energy that he has brought to Chanel is so refreshing and so light, and you know you just feel really good being there…. It’s a refreshing new look at what fashion is and is going to become.”
Odhiang and Blazy have known each other since he was design director at Bottega Veneta under Daniel Lee. She says she arrived at her Chanel fitting in between other shows—she walked far too many to count this season—and her jaw dropped. She didn’t know she’d be the closer: “I went in just excited to see Matthieu and happy to see what has become of Chanel, and at the end of my walk he surprised me by telling me I was closing the show. I teared up, and I can’t even lie to you, I’ve been smiling from that second until now.”
All eyes are on Odhiang now. She’s all over every fashion fanatic’s social media feeds, and it seems like she’s become the name on everyone’s lips overnight. This is how supermodels are born.
“I’ve been doing many, many, many shows the last few seasons, and in the beginning of my career I was always a bit nervous right before walking, and that’s not something that I lost,” she says. “With this show, I was absolutely nervous, but once I started walking I was filled with so much joy. I just wanted to make Matthieu proud, and my family and Chanel, and all the Black girls and South Sudanese girls who are trying their best now in the industry proud. I felt power on the runway, I felt free. I was floating on top of the moon.”
Odhiang says she feels grateful for the love and support that she’s been “flooded” with since, and underscores that many people have reached out to tell her how refreshing it was to see not just a Black model close the show, but do so with a smile. “That’s not something we are encouraged to do as models,” she says, adding that she had never been given that much freedom on the runway. “I sometimes don’t really give myself enough credit for all the work that I do during Fashion Week and throughout the year, but I can genuinely say that I am proud of myself and that’s something that all these people in the industry, people like Matthieu, have made me feel. What Matthieu is bringing to Chanel is very inspiring, and I think it’s what the industry needed.”
