Until the very end of fashion month, Awar Odhiang was considered just a face. Albeit a very familiar face, having fronted campaigns for Prada, Louis Vuitton, Saint Laurent and Alaïa, walking practically every major show of the season, and gracing the cover of magazines such as Pop, WSJ. Magazine and the inaugural issue of System collections. Then came the Chanel show and everything changed.

Bursting with pride for her friend Matthieu Blazy, whose debut show she’d just closed, and feeling the energy of the room, the Canadian model decided to express herself in way that felt truly authentic to her; she danced, she smiled, she clapped her hands above her head, moving her skirt to the music – German group Snap’s 1992 Eurotrance hit ‘Rhythm is a Dancer’ – as she broke formation, before running into Blazy’s arms. By the next morning, Awar’s moment of pure, unbridled joy had gone viral.

Fashion loves a gag moment, but something about this felt different. This wasn’t a brand flexing its creative muscle through special effects in a bid to monopolise the attention economy. This was a spontaneous articulation of happiness, a rare thing to see at a fashion show. Here was a model expressing agency and personality in a context that traditionally calls for the exact opposite. That’s because Awar is so much more than just a face. System sat down with her almost month after that Internet-shattering moment to discuss her newfound fame, the anxiety over fashion’s musical chairs and why we need to see more diversity on the runway.

Tish Weinstock: You had an amazing season. I want to start off by talking about Chanel and your viral moment. Has your phone been blowing up?
Awar Odhiang: I’ve not had moments like this in my career, but with all the buzz, things have definitely picked up. I’m very happy with the momentum.

Has your newfound virality changed anything for you? Was it something you were after? Because it’s not like you’ve come out of nowhere, you’d been working at a very high level right up to this point.
It’s not something that I ever expected or yearned for. It’s a moment that touched a lot of people and I can see how it’s changing my career trajectory. People know my face, but they don’t know who I am. Now, a lot of people are interested in getting to know me and who is behind the image.

Are you comfortable with that?
That’s a good question, because I’m quite a private person. I like to separate my private life from my work life. Having people trying to crack into the core of who I really am has been a lot to digest, but I don’t think it’s been bad in any sense. I think that it’s fair for people to want to know who I am rather than being just the face of this, the face of that, because I am more than that.

What was going through your head during the finale?
I think the point was to provoke emotion. Matthieu is a friend of mine and someone who I’ve always been so proud of. I wanted everyone to feel how I felt in that moment; I felt so beautiful, so powerful, so free. I was at the end of the runway so I’d been watching each look go by and I was smiling so hard that
I couldn’t help myself. When it was my turn to walk, Matthieu was like, ‘Awar, I just want you to enjoy yourself – this is a moment not just for me, but for you as well.’ I was overwhelmed with joy, excitement and confidence.

What was it like to be given that freedom to be yourself?
You don’t really get that often. Most of the time, we’re meant to just be straight-faced, to be the canvas to the art that is the clothing. So it really meant a lot to be able to express myself.

What is it you bring to a show? Are you a chameleon where you can seamlessly inhabit the different characters and moods of each collection? Or do you think it’s more to do with how much of yourself you imbue in the clothes?
It depends on the designer. I love embodying the vision that the team has. But at the same time, I like to add my touch to it because I’m more than just a face. I have a soul, I have a heart. I have emotions and feelings. How I feel in the clothing, no matter what the vision is, is going to be translated. Models have voices and we should use them.

You walked so many shows this season, across all four cities. What does fashion month look like to you?
In comparison to others, this season was quite hectic, simply because of the creative director musical chairs. It was chaotic, but in a good way.

You walked a lot of debuts: Versace, Chanel, Balenciaga. How did the atmosphere backstage differ from that of an industry stalwart?
I don’t usually get nervous for shows anymore. I know that I have a duty, I know what I need to do, how I need to present myself. But I think that with this season I was more nervous because I know how hard the creative directors work. How hard the ateliers work, as well as styling, nails, hair, make-up. It’s been a bit stressful, but I think it’s good to be stressed because that’s how you know you’re working hard and you have a lot of passion for what you’re doing. But it was also really exciting!

We talk a lot about the designers moving houses, but we don’t really appreciate what it’s like for the models. When a new designer comes in, you’re not necessarily guaranteed to be a part of their vision, because maybe you were too associated with the previous designer. Was there a lot of anxiety around that in the lead-up?
Definitely. Talking to some girls, I know that a lot of them were very nervous about whether they were going to be continuing with the same brands that they’ve been working with for years. But at the same time, I think the whole point is to move in a different direction.

What do you think about casting right now in general? We’ve recently seen a rise in non-model models. Like having Sandra Hüller walking Miu Miu, Caroline Polachek walking Chloé. This has been great in terms of diversifying the types of women we see on the runway. But in terms of true diversity, what do you make of the current landscape?
Well, if I can be honest, I feel that in this last year things have been going backwards. There’s less diversity and not only in skin colour and ethnicity, but also in body types. I was talking to one of my friends about this during fashion week, about the state of the world in general, and about how loud and proud people are now to be racist and prejudiced toward others, particularly in the US. That’s something that unfortunately trickles into every industry and it has trickled into the fashion industry too. And I don’t know why, because it’s never a good thing. Obviously, it doesn’t benefit anybody. I think that it’s bad for the models. It’s bad for the viewers. It’s bad for the youth as well, children who are looking up to people like us. They don’t see people that look like them anymore. And that is very harmful to society.

Totally. I think that’s also why you closing Chanel was so poignant.
I didn’t even realise that I was only the third Black model to ever close Chanel, and that says a lot. I understand the heritage of Chanel has been, excuse my words, very white. But it’s 2025. Come on. We’re meant to inspire people and bring hope.

So how should we move forward at fashion month?
I would love to see more diversity both in terms of ethnicity but also body types. That’s something that I’ve never understood in casting. The people who are buying this kind of clothing, sure, they see it on a stick-thin person, but then how can they imagine it on themselves if it’s not going to look like that [on their body]? I would also love to see people with disabilities, because they’re out here buying stuff too.

Aside from Chanel, what was your most memorable moment, whether on the runway or off?
Lots of these collections have been refreshing: Versace, Balenciaga, Chloé. These moments were special because they felt like a breath of fresh air. And I think that’s something that everybody can feel, not just in the industry, but outside of it as well, because they’re so used to seeing the same thing. For me, I love watching my friends just winning.

Who’s winning in particular?
Oh my gosh. OK, the first person that comes to mind is Betsy Gaghan. She is such a queen. So beautiful inside and out. We just did the Vogue World show, where everybody had a particular role to play. She actually had her own section as Diane Keaton. It was so lovely. Betsy did such an incredible job embodying her spirit and being who she was.

You have such a momentum behind you right now. What’s next?
I’ve been asked this quite a few times, and I never really knew how to answer it because, being very truthful, I’m just a girl, I’m figuring my life out. I am taking this year day-by-day. I’m still evolving. I’m not set on certain things. But what I hope to do in my career and in my life is to inspire people, specifically Black girls, to let them know that they have space in this industry.