Grace Kelly’s granddaughter Charlotte Casiraghi rides horse on Chanel runway

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Talk about a grand entrance.

On Tuesday, Chanel staged its spring/summer 2022 haute couture show at the Grand Palais Éphémère with a surprising start: Charlotte Casiraghi, Grace Kelly’s granddaughter, took a ride around the runway on horseback.

An accomplished equestrian, the 35-year-old Monaco socialite and model trotted down the catwalk on a beautiful bay, and wore a sparkling black tweed Chanel jacket with riding pants and boots.

Casiraghi was named a brand ambassador in 2020, and even wore Chanel at her 2019 wedding to Dimitri Rassam.

Some on social media were quick to criticize the use of a live animal for the fashion show.

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The steed made as much of a splash as the fashion, with one fan pointing out that the French house closed its last couture show with a bride on horseback, bringing the two collections into dialogue.

Others, however, decried the use of the animal in a commercial setting. “So tacky and unnecessary to use animals in parades!” one commented on Chanel’s Instagram. “How unnecessary is it to have a horse walk a catwalk? Just for the attendees entertainment? #animalabuse,” another wrote.

Sitting front row to watch the spectacle were various celebrities and fashion elite, including Anna Wintour, Pharrell, Margot Robbie, Sofia Coppola and more.