Woman gatecrashes Chanel Paris catwalk

A gatecrasher jumped onto the catwalk at Chanel's Paris fashion week show Tuesday and walked unchecked with the models for the big finale.

The woman, a guest at the show, ran down from her seat and joined the models as they did their last walk along a spectacular set recreating the roofs of Paris inside the Grand Palais.

With security guards left floundering, supermodel Gigi Hadid eventually confronted the gatecrasher as she tried to further upstage the models, and escorted her off the set.

The daring infiltrator was dressed from head to toe in a black and white Chanel-like tweed suit and hat, and slipped unnoticed onto the catwalk.

The daring infiltrator was dressed from head to toe in a black and white Chanel-like tweed suit and hat.

Guards only realised that she had joined the models when it was too late to intervene.

"I couldn't stop laughing because the hapless security guards couldn't spot her in the line-up," said the New York Times' Elizabeth Paton.

Combination photo shows the woman climbing the ramp.

By then the woman -- who has yet to be identified -- was giving it her all, waddling down the catwalk with her hands on her hips like a supermodel.

Moments later as the women left the line of models to pose further up on the rooftop, Hadid stood in her way and a brief face-off followed, before the model escorted the smiling woman offstage.

The same woman may also had gatecrashed a show by the lingerie brand Etam last week.

Chanel told AFP that the woman had taken them by complete surprise but that "this is not the first time that she has done this."

Models didn't miss a step

The same woman may also had gatecrashed a show by the lingerie brand Etam last week.

"We are not going to make a drama out of it," a Chanel spokeswoman added.

"We would have preferred if it hadn't happened."

The woman was "escorted to the exit by our security personnel afterwards."

Agence France-Presse