Going wild for leopard

When

Kate Moss

turned up for her 40th birthday party in London recently, what did the famous supermodel, whose style continuously influences the high street, choose to wear? Answer: a leopard print coat and a black dress. Quite a few other celebrities at the party also sported the predatory print, and Moss has been spotted in that fluffy coat, one of her favourites, on several other wild, nocturnal outings. It goes to show that there’s no escaping the lust for leopard print either on or off the

catwalk, its deep-rooted appeal crossing genders and generations reaching way back to Dior in 1947, the first to use it as a dress motif.

Earlier last year buyers at Net-a-Porter made a decision to eliminate all leopard print from their winter site because they felt it had become too ubiquitous. However, when they saw Burberry and other collections full of it, they backtracked, and their winter offerings were saturated with the feline motif in everything from leopard-print blazers by Moschino to swimsuits by Dolce & Gabbana.

Gets noticed

At the other end,

[ Asos ]

was selling leopard print skater dresses, tights and scarves. There’s just no way of avoiding it, even in the relative safety of the spring-summer season. Whatever way it’s worn, it gets noticed, like on Imelda May, who sports leopard print and red lipstick in a television ad for credit unions.

Designers internationally treat it in different ways. For winter, Ungaro mixed leopard with polka dot very effectively. Donna Karan used the pattern for tunics and high-top trainers. Moschino’s chubby fake fur coats were widely copied, and Burberry used it as sleeve insets and in sexy skirts. High street giants such as Warehouse, Oasis and Zara padded along in their wake, and the pattern is even pervading the spring- summer 2014 collections.

According to buyer Colette O’Leary from Brown Thomas, “it travels well from season to season, and Dolce & Gabbana in particular play with it in linings and keep coming back to it. It’s just a print that people love, and the colour palette works well with black or ivory. We had a skirt by Cheap & Chic and it just walked. People relate to it in a modern way. It always sells.”

One passionate fan is Dubliner Lisa Kehoe, who owns everything from leopard-print underwear and pyjamas to coats, shoes, bags, dresses and gloves.

“It’s a bit of a statement and gives more depth to an outfit, but it’s my strict rule that only one thing is allowed at any one time,” she says. Kehoe has so much that she now has to divide her wash into black wash, white wash and leopard-print wash. “I just love it, and I go for it in every way, from the traditional prints to the newer colours. I wear it to work – a black blazer and a black skirt with a leopard-print shirt. It used to be considered borderline tacky, but I don’t see that. It’s a lot more acceptable nowadays, though my husband thinks I am a bit mad.”

A neutral print

The writer

Caitlin Moran

calls leopard print a “neutral”, not so surprising when you think that the “rosettes” of this secretive cat’s beautiful, dense spotted fur are actually black, tawny brown and cream – what combination could be more conventional or easy to match? And did you know that a black panther is actually a black leopard? Fashion can get a bit zoological at times; other species such as the snow leopard have spots in black, grey and white, markings that are mirrored in other variations of the print.

Perhaps one reason why leopard print has an edge over other big cat patterns lies in the force of its subliminal associations: a leopard hunts at night, is graceful, powerful, fierce and feline – and sometimes dangerous.

That slight whiff of dangercan often scare people off. “It’s not frightening,” argues wardrobe adviser Tara Crowley. “It looks lovely with cobalt blue or pillar box red, and can jazz up a pair of jeans.

“You are all of a sudden more dressed up. If used correctly in small doses and not head to toe – the way Burberry check was at one point – it is very sophisticated.

“For people who are afraid of colour, it has a bit of zing because of its neutral colour pattern. Worn on dresses, the pattern can disguise the lumps and bumps. It

camouflages well,” she says.

Cautious dressers can go a bit wild with accessories. Leopard print adds a bit of fun on specs, on stilettos (great with jeans) and on scarves for those fearful of the more potent primal vibe of wearing it head to toe and who are not at ease with florals or dizzy digital prints.

New riffs on its patterns are becoming more inventive. I saw all sorts of leopard prints roaming around high-street shops recently, from oversized, distorted motifs to items dyed in artificial hues, and pumps in leopard-print pony skin.

As a statement, it can be glamorous and grown-up, and can spice up an outfit (and your mood) and remains spot-on for winter or summer.