Are you smart enough to know how to dress animal print?

The fur of animals has always inspired fashion. This search for inspiration should not be anything strange, since, from primitive time, man made use of the skin of animals to protect themselves from the climatological severities. It is very common to appreciate in cave paintings how prehistoric man hunted animals to feed and use the skin to “make” pieces that maintain body temperature. Doing this backwardness helps us understand the why of things. In the last century, at the beginning of the 50s, the designer Christian Dior imposed the “animal print” pattern among the upper class women of Europe; recreating leopard skin over cozy textiles to create coats in New Look silhouette.

Photo: Maurice Lim

The jump into the male wardrobe came two decades later,  thanks to the effervescence of the punk movement born in England. The anarchy used the references of the cats’ fur to build pants, jackets, torn T-shirts and accessories that imitated the leopard skin, as protagonist, but there was also place for the tiger, cheetah and puma. For the 80s, and due to the chaos of the trends of that time, the animal print conquered all the fashionable garments; expanding its stratum and creating “new” imitations such as cow skin and snake. Later, it would begin to lose strength, which made the print begin to be almost exclusive to the female wardrobe.

Photo: Luke Kuisis

The leopard print goes and returns, and so on all the time, in women’s clothing. In fact it could already be considered a basic to have an animal print coat in the closet. However, for the male sector the employer wants to return to equalize their power in both areas. Why this is inclusiveness, or not? For designers like Roberto Cavalli, Saint Laurent and Balmain the animal imitation, in some way, has always been present in their masculine collections, but it seems to indicate that by 2019 they will not be the only ones.

Photos: NowFashion

During the presentations of the FW 19-20 collections in Milan and Paris Fashion Week, companies such as Versace made use of the leopard print to transport it to impossible looks, mixing different prints. Sacai updated the print in a more dynamic version; adding other elements and graphics about it. Marni, on the other hand, retained the feline appearance and transported it to classic top coats and menswear garments. On the more affordable side, fast fashion chains, such as Zara, have presented leopard “skin” pants, shirts and jackets.

Photo: Zara

The question will always be: how to use this trend and take it to the office? The answer will be in the balance of the pieces. For example, a shirt in animal print will always stand out on its own, so it is advisable to combine them with basic pieces and neutral colors. The trick is to balance the leopard executive cut shirt with black trousers. If it is a blazer, avoid using it with other garments that have prints; because mastering the mix print is a science that not everyone can master.