Aishwarya Rai walks L'Oréal Paris show in a Syrian designer's black couture gown

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has made Paris Fashion Week her stage once again. The actor walked the L'Oréal Paris Le Défilé 2026 show on Monday. Reports say this year's look had a link to Syria through the designer behind it.

She wore a black velvet fishtail gown cut in a V shape, with a cape covered in pearls. A tiara, bold red lips, sharp winged liner and dewy skin completed the royal styling. The couture piece reportedly came from the label of Yara Shoemaker, a designer born in Damascus and raised in the United States.

According to reports, Shoemaker moved to the US at 24. She spent years in the fashion and lifestyle trade before opening her own private label and a boutique in Sarasota, and she launched her own haute couture house in 2020. Her work blends Eastern influences with modern Western couture, and it also uses traditional Indian craft, detailed embroidery and European atelier methods. Her designs have since reached New York and Paris Fashion Week.

The show was held at Place Joffre, close to the Eiffel Tower and the École Militaire. L'Oréal Paris posted a picture of Aishwarya arriving at the venue on its official Instagram account. She has been a global face of the beauty brand for more than twenty years and has represented it at the Cannes Film Festival and at Paris Fashion Week. She first walked the Paris ramp in 2019.

She had plenty of famous company on the runway. Celine Dion walked the same show, and reports say Eva Longoria, Kristen Bell, Cara Delevingne and Bridgerton star Simone Ashley were also part of the lineup. For her fans, it was one more global moment for an actor who has been a regular at the event for years.