There are many patterns that are constantly recurring in fashion: the blue and white stripes of the marine look, the Scottish checks or those polka dots that are spread over dresses and blouses in all sizes.

But once it has found its way from the fabric producers to the designers onto the catwalk, none of them hits like the leopard print.

It doesn't look good and geometric, but wild and unpredictable because it is modeled on the big cats in the wild.

Anke Schipp

Editor in the "Life" section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

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For decades, women have been fascinated by the brown-black, rosette-like spots on leopard skin. The look made its first major appearances in the 1930s, when Hollywood stars like Marlene Dietrich and Rita Hayworth wore dresses, coats and hats in the Leo look. Yves Saint Laurent gave them coolness with his Safari collection in the 1970s, just like Tom Ford 30 years later when he revamped the YSL brand. Naomi Campbell also made fashion history when she was completely dressed in a leopard print for the Azzedine Alaïa autumn / winter show in 1991.

Now the look has made a big comeback in fashion.

The fur pattern adorned airy dresses, beach bags and espadrilles as early as summer, and the pattern is picking up speed in autumn.

You can see it on transitional coats from Michael Kors, on transparent rain jackets from Dior or bags from Jérôme Dreyfuss.

Rihanna caused a stir with her faux fur bucket hat in the leopard pattern from R13.

Pattern for post-lockdown maximalism

Does it mean that the big cat pattern is so popular again now of all times? British Vogue speaks of post-lockdown maximalism, one could also say: Away with the jogging pants in monochrome colors, towards life-affirming patterns from those animals that do not stand for solid, nice and polite, but for wild and unpredictable, and before especially for maximum freedom. It may well be that they currently embody the longing for what we don't have. Travel is still limited, the trip to Africa may be a long way off, but the feeling that it could soon be that time is there again. The practical plain-colored home office look could be history. "What we need now more than ever are fantasy and glamor and things that make you feel wonderful," says designer Jeremy Scott,who designed an entire collection of animal prints for Moschino, and adds: "And I don't think jogging pants can do that."