A DIFFERENT BEAST

In most designers’ hands, leopard print has more baggage than, well, the 09.20 Heathrow to Linate flight carrying editors to Milan fashion week. Leopard print has been vilified: cheap, brash, bad taste – tarty on the young and muttony on the old. But then Max Mara, longtime purveyors of elegance and tastefulness, delivered a take on leopard print that’s both. Texture plays a part, from tufty wool sweaters that soften the print to plush faux-furs that give it depth. Those brassy yellow tones that Bet Lynch liked so much have given way to softer neutrals and shades of tan (and silvery brocades at Roberto Cavalli), and there’s not a miniskirt in sight. None of that has reduced the bite of leopard print, though. Layered up with black leather, it’s still unarguably sexy – but, crucially, not too much so for daylight hours.