Catwalk was spun off from an episode of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's drama Dynasty (an episode also called 'Catwalk'), which had featured a fictional woman's fashion magazine called Lilith. Unlike Dynasty, however, it was not produced for the ABC (which was uninterested in the projected spin-off), but for ATN-7.
According to Don Storey, in his Classic Australian Television, compared to Dynasty, 'Catwalk is not as intense. The setting of a top women's fashion magazine provides plenty of intrigue and tension, but it is a lighter drama with touches of comedy and more of a human-interest approach'. Albert Moran, in his Guide to Australian TV Series, suggests that the program 'was a kind of fictional version of a then very popular ATN daytime chat series, Beauty and the Beast.'
The program focuses on the relatively small staff of the magazine (now named Catwalk): Saxon Wells (owner and publisher), Ricky Novak (photographer), Cornelia Heyson (model), Jenkins (secretary), and Paula Healy (editor).
According to Storey, 'As there was little or no 'soap' content, and the established characters did not develop over such a short run, the episodes were screened mostly in random order with no detrimental effect'. Though the series rated moderately well, ATN-7 did not choose to produce a second series.
