English Version | Beautiful Creatures

It is one of the most controversial prints of all time: you either love it or you hate it. Its reputation is equally inflated, so dependent is it on the trends, and moods, of each season. Still, animal print remains as inspiring and desirable as it ever was.

In 2017, photographer Émilie Régnier decided to stage a photography exhibition, From Mobutu to Beyoncé, at the Bronx Documentary Center in New York City, whose theme was curious, to say the least: portraits of people wearing the famous - and to some fearsome - leopard print. After "stumbling" upon a woman wearing an African costume on a street in Paris, the Canadian realized the universality of the pattern and decided to go "hunting" for the leopard, from Texas to Johannesburg. As the online edition of S Moda, a Spanish publication, recounted, traveling the world for this purpose allowed her to meet some "colorful" characters, from Arielle Dombasle, the French cabaret artist married to philosopher Bernard Henry-Lévi, "who posed on an animal skin at the Museum of Hunting and Nature in Paris, to Larry, a Texan who tattooed his entire body with leopard spots in an attempt to blend in with the animal kingdom." It was the artist herself who, in a conversation with Racked website, explained the relevance of her object of study: “People who wear leopard told me they feel beautiful, they feel strong, they feel powerful, they feel sexy.” And, so that there would be no doubt, he stressed: “It’s a print that you wear because you want to project some sort of image to the world. I think we see fashion [as] consumption, but it’s a way to choose second skin. We didn’t choose the skin we are born in, but we can choose the skin we are showing.” Leopard print, like its rightful cousins - zebra, tiger, snake, giraffe - is anything but consensual. Its reputation is both on the rise and at the moment of death. There are those who assure that it is a basic, while others shout to the seven winds that it is trashy and vulgar. Where do we stand? Wherever our intuition wants us to be. One thing is certain: this spring/summer, the fashion gods have decided that animal print is in, and that it can, and should, be worn without moderation. God bless.

Today, patterns with animal motifs are nothing new, they simply exist - and, for many of us, far, far away, such is the horror they provoke in us - but it wasn't always this way. The most obvious case is the famous leopard print, which did not make its way into Western clothing until 1947, when a visionary Christian Dior used it in his spring/summer collection, entitled Jungle and Africa. Before that, Jeanne Paquin, the first female couturier, had made coats from (real) leopard skins, a hit among flappers, but it was monsieur who knew how to take the print and use it in a sober, elegant... and sustainable way. It is said that one of the biggest influences for the French creator to take this step was Mitzah Bricard, stylist and one of his main collaborators: her nickname was "panther woman", for her taste for the print. Besides the designer, other names contributed to make the animal pattern iconic: Josephine Baker, Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie Kennedy, Edie Sedgwick, Bettie Page. All of them - strong women with strong personalities and renowned style - were seen wearing animal print, each in their own way ensuring that this was not a passing trend. And if there is still a certain prejudice against its visual impact (not infrequently, a woman wearing leopard leggings is associated with labels such as "trophy wife" or "femme fatal", even if her posture says otherwise), it is nonetheless true that its increasing presence in the public sphere serves to demystify this bad name. 

Season after season, leopard print, the most famous of all types of animal print, uses its spots to "camouflage" itself among the trends of the season. There are brands that never do without it, such as Roberto Cavalli and Dolce & Gabbana - whatever the direction of the collections, it appears, omnipresent, as if it were part of the house's DNA, a kind of brand image that communicates more than any hashtag. Azzedine Alaïa always treated it with a special devotion (it is worth taking a look at his collections from the early 90s) and Versace knew how to work it in a sexy way, namely in wonderful dresses that went down in fashion history. Diane von Furstenberg, precursor of the wrap dress, also pinned it with this animal print, neutralizing it and making it practical for everyday life. Today, dozens of designers are betting on this - and other - prints of this kind. For spring/summer 2023, the list is so long that we are forced to mention just a few: Blumarine, Celine, Chanel, Gucci, Halpern, Khaite (one of the most interesting interpretations of the animal print concept), Saint Laurent (if perfection exists, it is in one of the dresses that Anthony Vaccarello sent to the runway), in addition to the already mentioned Cavalli, D&G, Alaïa and Versace. And if the industry now bows to the endless possibilities of these fabulous prints, certain public figures have long discovered their charm.

Alexa Chung is one of its loyal followers, with an enviable collection of coats ranging from wonderful vintage leather pieces to a coveted copy by Shrimps, which was once one of the most sought after by internet users. Beyoncé, for her part, wore a Tom Ford leopard coat during the Lemonade tour - which she paired with a crystal python bodysuit by the same designer - proving that the rule "don't mix different types of animal patterns" can, and should, be ignored. The promotion of this album served, in fact, to show more than one look of the genre. If there were any doubts about the relevance of animal print, the singer of Irreplaceable has blown them away. But in this urban jungle there is only room for one queen, and there is no doubt that Kate Moss is the best representative of the leopard print, which she wears shamelessly, with high doses of coolness, since the cameras started to follow her in the early 90s.It is all too well known a photo from 2012, in which she appears with cigarette in hand, wearing a Supreme t-shirt and a leopard-print jacket, immortalizing her love for the print. She is the biggest symbol of this (non) trend, in the footsteps of women like actress Anne Bancroft, in The Graduate (1967), or singer Debbie Harry, who have always used it as a way to demonstrate their femininity and power. Sophisticated, luxurious, rebellious, sexy. Animal print can be anything, it just can't be ignored. That's what makes these wonderful creatures, from leopard to tiger, zebra to giraffe, have an enormous power of attraction. It is not a passing affair, it is a lifelong love.

Translated from the original on The Good Luck Issue, published March 2023.Full stories and credits on the print issue.