What is the origin of the term Catwalk?

Answer 1

The term "catwalk" came from some of the earliest fashion models in the 1800's from Italy. Some say that an early fashion designer had a calico kitten and at the first documented runway show in the world the first model came out in the clothes holding the calico.

Another rumor is that during runway training, models were instructed to "walk the the tiger" which is from the cat family.

As many rumors as there are, no one for sure knows where the term originated, but from the sources I have provided, you can see pretty clearly were it might have originated.

Answer 2

A catwalk in the theater is a series of avenues the stagehands walk across to get the the lights and the overhead rigging.

You need to have the good balance and daring of a cat to walk these narrow supports. I've seen mere 2 x 12's that I was expected to todder across.

And I needed my cat-like skills walking across a dusty beam 60 feet over the stage -- way back when I took more chances, lol.

Nowdays, a lot of catwalks have decent handrails and it's good and solid.