Animal print makes for a lively, bold look as the charm of quiet luxury fades – Rihanna and Blake Lively are fans, as were Audrey Hepburn and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy back in the day
Carmela Soprano and Fran Fine in The Nanny are two famous on-screen fans, while Nicolas Ghesquière’s Louis Vuitton leads the pack of brands getting into the look
In fashion, what goes around, comes around, and arguably there’s nothing that applies to more than the animal attraction of leopard print.
Leopard print has been worn by A-listers from Audrey Hepburn to Rihanna, from socialite Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy out walking her dog to screen personas Carmela Soprano and Fran Fine in The Nanny. It was worn by seemingly every girl in that Réalisation Par slip skirt in close proximity to an Aperol Spritz circa 2018, and was central to both indie sleaze and the mob wife trend that swept the internet earlier this year. In recent seasons everyone from Ganni to Roberto Cavalli and Nicolas Ghesquière’s Louis Vuitton has toyed with it.
Ian Griffiths, long-time creative director of Max Mara, says he likes to play with the way he uses the print in his collections.
“My favourite animal print is leopard. It’s the one that works best for Max Mara, followed by crocodile,” he says. “Leopard is our number one but wherever we use it, the technique is different. Sometimes very realistic so you can even see the direction of the fur, sometimes very abstract and graphic. Sometimes with many colours blending together, sometimes just one or two contrasting colours, very graphic.”
Kate Benson, buying director at Net-a-Porter, is also partial. “Leopard print is a particular favourite of mine. This season, I am coveting our exclusive Gianvito Rossi leopard-print mules. They are perfect for the upcoming party season and are sure to make an impact,” she says.
Benson says she has spied plenty of other animal prints out in the (fashion) wild.
“From snake to leopard and zebra, there was no shortage of animal print this season, but it is a perennial fashion favourite. From mixed textures and patterns to more subtle approaches, designers have interpreted the trend in their own way for autumn. Alessandro Michele’s debut at Valentino, released in June, may have something to do with it, with prints taking centre stage and leopard being the most prominent,” she says.
As celebrities have shown in their experimentations with leopard print this year – from Katie Holmes in a short-sleeve camp shirt and jeans, to Hailey Bieber tying a leopard-print scarf around her hair and Rihanna in a sexy minidress, there’s more than one way to show your spots – whether you believe leopard print is a neutral or not.
Leopard isn’t the only animal in the menagerie, however. For his 15th anniversary show, designer Simon Porte Jacquemus played with zebra print across coats, giant totes and flippy little peplum tops. Roberto Cavalli had a sexy slinky snake print for its spring 2025 collection, worked into silky trousers and barely buttoned shirts and sharp little blazer and skirt suits. Blake Lively wore a giraffe print jacket and miniskirt set to the Michael Kors show in New York earlier this year, while Rosie Huntington-Whiteley recently posted a photo of herself to Instagram in a zebra print skirt on a yacht – truly the spiritual home of a bold animal print.