the.com/catwalk
a runway where humans practice walking like they've never needed your approval
means a long narrow platform that models walk along to display clothing, or any similarly narrow elevated walkway used for access in theaters, on bridges, or around machinery.
from A literal compound of "cat" and "walk," coined in the 19th century for the kind of narrow, precarious path you'd need a cat's balance to cross — think the slim planks rigged high above a ship's engine or behind a theater stage. The fashion-runway sense is a 20th-century borrowing of that same image: a long, narrow, elevated path you traverse with feline poise.
- nautical origin
- named for narrow ship gangways sailors balanced across
- the strut
- deliberately exaggerated to keep eyes off the clothes' flaws
- speed limit
- models walk roughly one outfit per fifteen seconds
- industrial cousin
- factory catwalks let workers cross above dangerous machinery
- animal namesake
- cats walk placing back paws in front-paw prints
victoria's secret fashion show — annual runway event featuring supermodels, ran 1995-2018 with millions of viewers
paris fashion week — twice-yearly event since 1973 where designers debut collections on runways
new york fashion week — biannual showcase of american designers on runways since 1943