The Curious Marketer. Leopard prints and the animal instinct

I have been in three big cities over the past month — Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Madrid. In all three, I have observed the resurgence of a timeless fashion trend — women attired in leopard and other animal prints. Then I saw a data point highlighted by Alexandra Van Houtte, founder of the fashion search engine Tagwalk — leopard prints in the fall collection is up by an astounding 944 per cent from a year ago.

Bollywood styles 

In my memory, animal prints are eternally conjoined with the 1990s’ Bollywood song Churake dil mera, with Shilpa Shetty draped in these patterns in a dance number with Akshay Kumar that went wildly viral. In the past few years, I have seen other Hindi film actors sporting these prints, including Janhvi Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Priyanka Chopra and Malaika Arora. And now, suddenly, the trend is back on the prowl.

The designer I most associate with animal prints is, however, not from Bollywood. From the fashion ramps of Paris and Milan, Roberto Cavalli, who passed away earlier this year, made these prints hot, desirable and glamorous. His flashy python prints and black-white-tan leopard print dresses were seen on some of the most beautiful women worldwide. On his obsession with animal prints, he famously said: “I started to understand that God is the best designer, so I started to copy God.”

Origins of animal prints

This brings me to the central point of this discussion: Why do human beings love wearing animal prints?

Perhaps there is a primal element at play here. Our early ancestors, who lived in caves in jungles, used to hunt animals for food. Having eaten these animals, they would turn their skins into clothing. This was, therefore, one of the original dress codes of human beings, and it has stayed in our sub-consciousness for millennia.

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But we must go deeper beyond this mere historical fact. The cavemen hunters were in awe of the mighty beasts of the jungle and their specific traits — for instance, the power of the lion or the speed of the cheetah. It is likely they believed that wearing these skins would transfer to them some of the power of these animals. Hence, the wearing of animal skins took on a new meaning for them.

Thereafter, for a long period of time, animal skins were reserved for use by royalty, as a symbolic display of the power they wielded over their dominions. For instance, in ancient Egypt, the leopard skin marked out the king and his progeny as the legitimate rulers. It was usually worn by the eldest son of the king as the successor to the throne.

Over time, animal prints and power have become closely interlinked.

Sexy, playful, decadent

In modern times, animal prints (in particular, leopard prints) have become associated with sultry feline, powerful looks. 

Joe Weldon, who has authored the excellent book Fierce, which chronicles the history of the leopard print, talks about how animal designs are viewed as “sexy, playful, decadent and vibrant”. Since these are all desirable attributes for social events or a night on the town, the prints have become a mainstay of fashion.

Most importantly, fashionable garments with animal prints make the wearer stand out. There is a large segment of people who want to be seen and admired, and do not wish to merge into the anonymous crowd.

Here, animal prints are amongst the best designs at our command, because they make many other designs look somewhat tame and ordinary. Wearing these prints also signals confidence, the chutzpah to carry off the wild look, and the adventurous side of your personality.

With so many ingrained positives, no wonder animal prints are back in fashion every few years. This is a treasure trove for marketers, who can consider taking this trend into a number of products that spell out the consumer’s individuality — not just shirts, handbags and shoes, but also watches, jewellery, cars, motorcycles and electronic gadgets. Particularly in some categories not usually associated with fashion, this requires some of the courage we associate with the big cats.

(Harish Bhat is an avid marketer and bestselling author. He was previously brand custodian at Tata Sons)