Already Worthy: A Night Beneath the Eiffel Tower with L'Oréal Paris

Looking through the lens of faith, creativity, and bold femininity, Amaya Wood recounts her impressions from the L’Oréal Paris Fashion Show that opend Paris Fashion Week…

Step outside, and into the opening night of Paris Fashion Week set upon the Place Joffre with L’Oréal Paris. Beneath the lights, beyond the runway, and among the people chosen to stand in the room, there was something I couldn't stop noticing: favor, creativity, and the Source behind it all.

Between the École Militaire and the beautifully lit Eiffel Tower, L'Oréal Paris staged its ninth annual Le Défilé. It gathered ambassadors, models, and beloved personalities alongside a favored public audience to showcase this year's theme, "Express Your Worth." It was a true celebration of a shift in culture: a bridge continuing to be built for women to be rightfully seen, respected, valued, and worthy. Resting on the brand's timeless words, "Parce que je le vaux bien” Ilon Specht, a 23-year-old copywriter, wrote the phrase for L'Oréal in 1971. The phrase, meaning "Because I'm worth it," shifted the times as it began framing worthiness, beauty, and true confidence as an inherent right rather than something earned through the acceptance of the world or male validation.

Kendall Jenner walking on the runway | Photo Credit Amaya Rose Wood

As I walked into the evening, I didn't have many expectations rather than a calling from the Lord to be in the room, with a prayer to reveal the deeper significance behind what initially appears to be simply an evening celebrating fashion. A moment only remains confined to its time when no one chooses to look beyond it, so that’s what I believe the Lord called me to discover about the bridge between fashion, and the curation of pure creativity always connecting back to faith. Among everyone on the stage; Kendall Jenner, Mika Abdalla, Simone Ashley, Heidi Klum, and Cara Delevingne, to name a few, exists a narrative far deeper than what the world is willing, or even able, to see on the surface.

The evening was undeniably iconic, but beneath the spectacle, it became clear that this was not simply about what was being worn, but about what was being represented. Kendall Jenner appeared in a custom sheer black gown with a twisted high halter neckline, layered over a nude corset bodysuit, while Heidi Klum commanded the runway in a long-sleeved black sequin gown. Jane Fonda glowed in long-sleeved red sequins, Simone Ashley in a nude-gold slip with a high slit, and Eva Longoria in a beautiful backless black halter jumpsuit. By the finale, the runway had become a line of women celebrating women, waving, and holding hands: sparkles, sequins, striking reds, golds, and pure white under the night sky. There is a certain level of favor in a space like this. Out of the hundreds of thousands who may have wanted to stand beneath the Eiffel Tower that evening, only a thousand or so were in attendance, and only a dozen or so women were chosen to represent L'Oréal on the runway. Where many see models, celebrities, stars, personalities, and influencers, I saw something deeper. Every woman on that runway carried a worth that existed long before the lights ever found her, and every woman off that runway had a different level of favor simply to be in attendance.

The bridge being built for more women to walk in step with God in today's culture is not being built the way it was 100 years ago. It is being built through the ripple effect of women walking in their true worth, authentically allowing that confidence to be expressed, and ultimately then connecting others back to the true Source of worth, and favor.

"For You bless the righteous, O Lord; You cover him with favor as with a shield." — Psalm 5:12

The invitation may come through a person, a platform, a runway, or a room, but the Source of favor remains God.

View the images by clicking the arrow…

That is the part we don't always see. Before the career, the recognition, or even the simple favored invitation, every woman on and off the stage had to believe she belonged without needing the world's approval to validate it. Our authentically expressed confidence as women draws people toward us, so connecting that back to faith, when you give all the glory back to the Lord for His works within you, there is a ripple effect that comes from true belief in the true Source. There is power in showing up knowing you are set apart, even before the world has recognized what makes you different. That's exactly why one of the night's themes, "Express Your Confidence," touched me so deeply.

I believe our worth comes from Christ and is established long before we are even born, long before the world has an opportunity to define it. Jeremiah 1:5 says, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart."

What the world tells us we have to earn has already been bestowed upon us from the beginning of time. Expressing that worth never means walking into a room, onto a runway, or into any moment believing your worth depends on being seen, or that every room gets to decide how valuable you feel. It means knowing so deeply that your worth was given before you ever walked in, and before the beginning of time. Living in your worth is being seen as an expression of one’s self living so authentically, not a need for validation. You get to be seen for more than just the world seeing you, just as you are seen by your Father in heaven.

The fashion industry would like to define worth by saying you need to be seen to feel worthy, but L'Oréal is continuing to completely redefine that narrative positioning worth as something you express because you already know you have it.

The evening ended with a surprise performance from Céline Dion, who closed the night with her anthem "I'm Alive." As the crowd sang with her and the tower glittered overhead, one truth stayed with me. We don't walk into rooms to become worthy. We walk in already worthy, and the world simply gets to catch the narrative, and witness it.

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