In the pantheon of difficult prints, leopard holds a particular place in my heart. First, this is because I’ve never been able to pull it off and so my grudge is personal: whether it’s a shirt, shoes or a dress, I always feel too louche, too obvious, too extra. Second, for a fashion writer leopard is the print for which it’s most tempting — indeed, almost unavoidable — to succumb to clichés. In the Nineties, I’d wheel out the Bet Lynch references. In the Noughties, those gave way to Kat Slater. In the 2020s, nobody watches soaps any more and barmaids have less cultural significance now that people have swapped gins for gyms. Which begs the question: who is the archetypal wearer of leopard print?
The competition is fierce. Sophia Loren? Elizabeth Taylor? Eartha Kitt? Kate Moss has always loved leopard-print ballet pumps (another “how to wear print” cliché: “If you’re worried about it overwhelming you, wear it on your feet”), while leopard-print coats have been enthusiastically embraced by women as various as Gwyneth Paltrow, Madonna and Monica Bellucci (most recently at the Paris couture shows). Were it 1995, I’d nominate Gwen Stefani or Mary J Blige. Were it 2015, I’d nominate Alison Mosshart, the Kills singer, who wears it casually but never lets it overwhelm her.
Here in 2021, after giving it much thought and copious googling, I’d have to plump for Cardi B. The rapper loves leopard the way I love crisps, Kim Kardashian loves hair extensions and Boris Johnson loves grandiose promises, although let’s not get political. It’s not just the volume of leopard print that Cardi wears that wins her the crown, though. As with every fashion icon, it’s the way that she wears it.
How Cardi wears it — with total commitment — is precisely the way to do it this summer. Take your cues from Dolce & Gabbana and Dior, for whom leopard is less of an accent and more of a head-to-toe look. Kylie Jenner is another proponent of this new leopard maximalism (her sister Kim created the same look on a recent trip to Rome, although she eschewed leopard for tortoiseshell, matching her clothes to her bag to her sunglasses to her nails). The goal: total sensory overload.
If this is too terrifying an idea to contemplate, you could always downplay your leopard with a dose of denim. A similarly insouciant attitude was evident on the AW21 catwalk at Celine, where leopard print was thrown into the mix so casually that you barely noticed it alongside all the camo, herringbone and Prince of Wales check. Key example: a leopard-print slip dress worn with a quilted jacket, a hoodie, wellies and a beanie. Florence Pugh recently clashed her Louis Vuitton leopard bomber with other prints to similar effect.
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The author and performer Jo Weldon, whose book Fierce: The History of Leopard Print is a deep dive into the print, says that performers such as Cardi B and Beyoncé are using leopard to make statements about power and movement, and thinks this is leopard’s appeal for non-performers too. “It’s pure pleasure, as if relating to the playful and outdoorsy aspects of the big cats,” she notes. “After being caged within their computer screens during the pandemic, it’s like saying we’re glad to be roaming again.”
Leopard print has always implied a kind of status, that queen of the jungle thing. Certainly, its boldness isn’t for the faint-hearted, making it catnip to alpha types. During the 18th and 19th centuries, leopard fur coats were signifiers of wealth and status, an idea that lingered well into the 20th century. While Kitt did much to make it fashionable in the Fifties, Jackie Kennedy Onassis helped to popularise it in the Sixties. The way leopard draws the eye makes it an especially popular print for more structured, tailored garments such as shift dresses and overcoats: both firm favourites with Jackie O.
More surprising, perhaps, is that it was also popular with the Queen, who cut many a dash on state visits wearing a leopard coat in the Sixties. She may be 95, but I can’t be alone in wishing Her Majesty would revisit this look. Perhaps she could head to Harrods, where Dior is hosting a pop-up this month, with clothes and accessories from its AW21 collection featuring its Mizza leopard print, including its popular Lady D-Lite bag.
Where leopard print still confers status, interestingly, is on the nails. Could anyone be arsed to sit and have their nails done so elaborately before Instagram existed? In the world of #nailart, leopard print is one of the most popular looks, as well as being one that requires the steadiest hand.
In considering how to wear leopard in 2021, it’s useful to use the counterpoint of Theresa May. In 2016 May, prime minister at the time and a long-time fan of leopard-print shoes, was criticised for wearing expensive heels. “Let the media see that you can be the most powerful woman in the country … without needing to wear designer shoes to meet men’s expectations,” the GMB Union’s Penny Robinson said. When it comes to criticising women’s apparel, never let it be said that men are the meaner sex.
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This sexist comment was made a mere five years ago, yet even now, the idea that women dress to please men still prevails. There will always be people who attribute a try-hard mentality to leopard-print wearers, as though the idea that you would wear such a “wild”, “sexy” print for anyone other than yourself simply isn’t possible.
Yet this time around leopard simply isn’t that kind of cat. It isn’t a statement, a badge of confidence or a plea to be considered sexy. It’s more of an indicator that you’re fierce. Like the leopard, the leopard-wearer is resilient. They have survived a pandemic — and this is their print.
● Suede pumps, £715, Prada; mytheresa.com
● Rive Gauche canvas tote, membership £49 per month including one bag swap; cocoon.club
● Jacket, £245; Ganni; matchesfashion.com
● Matching shorts, £155, Ganni; matchesfashion.com
● Shirt, £50, Arket; zalando.co.uk
● Ponyskin mules, £535, JW Anderson; luisaviaroma.com
● Trench coat, £1,075; sportmax.com
● Belt, £35; stories.com
● Midiskirt, £49, Sosandar; johnlewis.com
