Style goes wild

KANAK HIRANI NAUTIYAL / TNN / Jul 25, 2006, 23:09 IST

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Like it or not, animal prints are back with a bang. But can everyone carry them off?

Like it or not, animal prints are back with a bang. But can everyone carry them off?
Jemima Khan's been spotted in them. And so has desi celeb Shilpa Shetty. Kate Moss was wearing a leopard-print gown and matching shoes to a bar opening at the Dorchestor recently.
But if anyone's gone completely nuts over animal prints, it's Roberto Cavalli. The international designer's not only obsessed with animal print chiffons, he's also gone and bottled a unique vodka in animal prints, an idea which he says is a "simple touch which makes it unique."
You've probably seen them a million times, getting reinvented year after year: tiger stripes or leopard spots on bags, shoes, stoles, dresses, shirts, and even cushions.But if you've hesitated to pick something in animal prints, remember there are people out there who don't need to give it a second thought.

Fashion store owner Pavithra Halkatti owns 30 different kinds of animal printed accessories and clothes. "What can I say, it brings out the animal instinct in me?" she jokes.
Pavithra, who's often been spotted on the party scene in animal prints, believes you can put together an entire theme for an outfit using animal prints.
"I've also found the best fits in animal prints." Her favourite animal printed possession? "My Cavalli sandals," she says, adding that other home accessories, "like my Australian rug and animal print cushion cover come next."

If you're looking at this fashion statement from the eyes of an animal activist, you're safe as long as it's just a print. According to Namrata Duggar, founder trustee, People For Animals, it's okay as long as it's not a skin or even on leather.
"A tiger stripe printed on cotton fabric or on a paper napkin's fine. Where fashion is concerned, it's a bold statement to make; it's eye-catching. But personally, I wouldn't wear animal prints."
Actress Parmita Katkar remembers buying a leopard print skirt a few years ago, but has never worn it. "I don't think it would suit me. As it is my hair is wild — this would be a little over the top." Parmita says only few people can carry off animal prints. "I really suits Shilpa Shetty and Dimple Kapadia."
Style professional Padmini Chandra says animals prints are something that never go out of style. "It's a fashion statement that's always being recycled." Padmini says the animal print gives you a feeling of being sensuous, wild and opulent and you can even give them an Indian twist.
"I have three animal print sarees — the best is the sand to brown and black; the earth tones are identity of the animal print."
Padmini says slightly older people are extremely comfortable in animal prints too. "That's because you're grown up enough to wear something trendy without looking like a teenybopper," she says.

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