‘You better love what you see’: Sheryl Lee Ralph brings a self-love lesson to Paris Couture Week

The 69-year-old “Abbott Elementary” star arrived at her first couture week with three striking looks, a trusted stylist in her daughter Ivy Coco Maurice, and the confidence of a woman who knows fashion should be fun.

Sheryl Lee Ralph may have arrived at Paris Couture Week wearing designer clothes and shoes she admitted were not made for walking, but the most memorable thing she brought to the front row was a message about self-worth.

The Emmy-winning actress made her first appearance at Paris Haute Couture Week in a series of commanding looks that felt glamorous, grown, and unmistakably her. At 69, Ralph continues to prove that personal style does not have an expiration date and neither does the thrill of experiencing something for the first time.

“It’s my first couture week, full fashion week here in Paris, and I’m having a grand time,” Ralph said in a video shared from the trip. “The whole idea of getting dressed, turning yourself into a different character, a different persona, that’s fashion fun, and I love it.”

That sense of play carried through each outfit.

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According to ESSENCE, Ralph delivered three standout ensembles during her Paris debut, including a Georges Hobeika look and a sleek black gown for the Stéphane Rolland Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2026-2027 show. The long-sleeved Rolland design embraced the French couturier’s sculptural approach, creating a dramatic silhouette without overwhelming the woman wearing it.

And that is one of Ralph’s greatest fashion gifts. Whether she is wearing feathers, sequins, a sharply tailored suit or yards of fabric, the clothes never seem to enter the room before she does. Ralph wears glamour instead of allowing glamour to wear her.

Her couture week wardrobe was styled by her daughter, Ivy Coco Maurice, extending a mother-daughter collaboration that has helped turn Ralph into one of Hollywood’s most reliable red carpet standouts. Maurice joined her mother in Paris, where the pair were photographed together in the front row at the Georges Hobeika show.

Their partnership also carries a deeper fashion lineage. Maurice is the granddaughter of Jamaican designer Ivy Ralph, who created the influential Kareeba suit as a stylish alternative to colonial-era European formalwear in the Caribbean. One of the late designer’s original suits was featured in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 2025 exhibition “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.”

That family history makes Ralph’s arrival in Paris feel bigger than a celebrity fashion moment. A Black Jamaican American actress, styled by her daughter and carrying the legacy of a pioneering Caribbean designer, was taking her place inside one of fashion’s most rarefied spaces.

Haute couture has historically been built around exclusivity. The designation is reserved for fashion houses that meet strict standards of craftsmanship and produce highly specialized, often handmade garments for private clients. The Fall/Winter 2026 season featured 30 houses on the official schedule, including Dior, Chanel, Schiaparelli, Balenciaga, and Jean Paul Gaultier.

But Ralph brought accessibility to the spectacle. Her delight was not guarded or overly serious. She talked about fashion as transformation, imagination, and fun, the same way Black women have long used clothing to express who we are and how we want to be seen.

Her Paris appearance also continues a remarkable chapter in a career that began decades before “Abbott Elementary” introduced her to a new generation. Ralph originated the role of Deena Jones in Broadway’s “Dreamgirls,” became a beloved television mother as Dee Mitchell on “Moesha,” and earned her first Emmy in 2022 for playing veteran teacher Barbara Howard.

Now, she is enjoying the kind of fashion attention Hollywood too often reserves for younger women.

Ralph is not dressing as though she is chasing youth. She is dressing like a woman celebrating the life, career, and confidence she already earned. That distinction matters, particularly in an industry that has often treated Black actresses and older women as though visibility were a limited resource.

Paris Couture Week may have been a first for Ralph, but she looked completely at home.

And judging by the grand time she had, it probably will not be her last.