Overview

• Meghan Markle made an unannounced appearance at Balenciaga’s Paris Fashion Week runway on October 4.
• Designer Pierpaolo Piccioli said she messaged him about attending and that he kept her visit a surprise, describing it as self‑initiated.
• Online critics accused her of hypocrisy for supporting a label still tied in public memory to controversial 2022 ad campaigns involving children.
• Her representative said a circulating clip of her laughing as a model stumbled did not reflect mockery and that she was not aware of the fall at that moment.
• Balenciaga withdrew and apologized for the 2022 campaigns and later pledged internal oversight changes, as Piccioli’s first season in charge draws renewed attention.