Coco Labbée may hail from Trois-Rivières, Que., population 150,000, but the 28-year-old now finds herself on a global stage, gracing the covers and pages of magazines such as Dazed Korea, Vogue Adria and Elle Greece, and on the catwalk at Paris Fashion Week. While the Canadian beauty may attract international attention for her bold appearance, it’s her personal story of self-acceptance that’s most remarkable.
Canadian model Coco Labbée tells us how she spends a day during Paris Fashion Week.Supplied
Paris-based since 2023, Labbée doesn’t shave her head. She is hairless due to a condition called alopecia, an autoimmune disease that attacks a person’s hair follicles. Diagnosed at the age of 10, she experienced hair loss throughout her teenage years.
At 19, Labbée moved to Montreal and completed a degree in business management and finance at HEC while beginning her modelling career. She went on to make the leap to Paris and now lives full-time in Montmartre – “the cool, young and artsy side of the mountain,” she said.
Fast forward to 2026, and Labbée’s past insecurity is now her calling card of strength. On catwalks and magazine covers, she exudes confidence and control. The model attributes her metamorphosis in part to Rick Owens (the first designer to cast her in Paris Fashion Week in 2022) and the Montreal designers behind Matières Fécales, Hannah Rose Dalton and Steven Raj Bhaskaran, who Labbée praised for highlighting and celebrating difference.
Matières Fécales presented its first collection on the official Paris Fashion Week calendar in March of last year (the sole Canadians on the schedule). Through their high-profile online presence and avant-garde appearances, the designer duo have become poster children for eccentricity and inclusivity. Labbée has now walked proudly in all three of their Paris shows.
“Hannah and Stephen really helped me become more myself and not just assume my alopecia but really embrace it,” Labbée said. “Their presence in the Montreal scene and on social media helped me accept the fact that I’m different. They helped me to find a community that understands me and makes me feel normal and understood.”
When Labbée speaks of the Matières Fécales community, she refers to it as her family and finds comfort in its paramount message of love and kindness.
And her plans don’t end with modelling. Bilingual in English and French, Labbée recently took up acting, shooting her first film, Roma elastica by Bertrand Mandico, this past summer.
“It’s really what I’ve been wanting to do forever,” she said. “I want to show more of who I am, I need to express more.”
Last week, The Globe and Mail traced a day in Labbée’s steps, including her emotional walk in the Matières Fécales Fall 2026 show.
8 a.m.
“I headed straight to Palais de Tokyo for a hair and makeup test for Rick Owens. It’s to see what they’re going to do during the show on Thursday. I was there for a few hours, until 1 p.m.” [Labbée was confirmed for the Rick Owens show the following day. Models typically don’t receive confirmation that they are in a show until the night before.]
1:15 p.m.
“I left Palais de Tokyo and went to Place de la Bourse. I literally grabbed something on the way, a smoked salmon sandwich. I had no time to eat at all.”
2 p.m. (Call time for the Matières Fécales show)
“It was already crazy backstage. There were a lot of people wearing their crazy shoes and prosthetics.
“There’s always a board with all of the faces for casting. And a board with all of the looks. Usually, it’s in order of how the people are going to walk in the show.
“They had to do some adjustments of the garments on me. They literally sewed it on me. And we had to use scissors to get me out of the blazer.
“I had a little doll look. I felt powerful and feminine at the same time.”
4:30 p.m.
“The show was late. It was supposed to be at 4 p.m., but it was at 4:30. It’s normal to be 30 minutes late. Nobody ever starts on time. Even starting 20 minutes after the planned time is kind of early.
“The venue was truly magical. The music was incredible – there was an opera singer.
“Hannah and Stephen are also from Montreal, and they went to Collège LaSalle. It was super cute because their teacher at the college was there [in the front row]. He even came to the after party. He’s such a lovely guy.”
5:30 p.m.
“I met up with my friend Kristijan after the show. It was not really planned. We went for a little walk catching up because he lives in Milan. And Paris was so beautiful all day, so warm and sunny.
“We went for a little coffee and then to Jardin du Palais Royal, and it was so pretty with all the flowers already in springtime.
“Then I went home to rest a tiny little bit, and then I had some pan fried veggies and a veggie patty for dinner. I’m pescatarian.
“I did my makeup again. I wore some big [contact] lenses all day, so my eyes were hurting so much, but then I got all my energy together and went out again.”
12 a.m.
“I went to the Ganni after party. It was at Tar in the 9th [arrondissement] on Rue Papillon. When it’s a brand hosting, there’s an open bar, so there were a lot of drunk people. It wasn’t my usual crowd, but it was a cute crowd.
“I was literally at the Ganni event for 30 minutes. I had a quick drink and then I left.”
1 a.m.
“I took the Metro to Fvtvr, and there it was really the community of Hannah and Stephen, all the kids in crazy makeup and crazy outfits. I stayed there until 3:30 a.m. Hannah and Stephen’s teacher was there, and Hannah’s mom. It was super adorable.”
