Somehow, every few months, people on social media wake up and collectively decide that animal print is “back.” Leopard is in. Zebra is in. Snakeskin is in. And every time, the fashion-literate among us have to sit there blinking, wondering when it left. Animal print isn’t trending. Animal print is a basic, a neutral and a wardrobe constant.

If you think animal print comes and goes, you’ve lost the plot on what a trend even is.

Animal print is one of the oldest recurring motifs in fashion history. It’s been worn by every iconic fashion generation, every style subculture, every woman who knows exactly who she is. It doesn’t belong to microtrends. It doesn’t belong to TikTok cycles.

The idea that leopard print could ever be “over” is insane. Truly, a Sicilian grandmother would slap you for even whispering it.

We’re living in an era where fashion “trends” get declared and retired in a week and a half. So now anything that pops up online gets labeled a “microtrend,” even when it’s something people have been wearing consistently for decades. Animal print isn’t a microtrend. It’s a macro-macro-macro staple.

People aren’t wearing leopard now because “it’s in.” They’re wearing it because it’s glamorous, bold, timeless, and has been part of personal style lore forever.

A trend rises and falls. Micro sunglasses, coastal cowgirl, Barbie pink, all had their time. But pillars do not move. Denim doesn’t trend. Leather doesn’t trend. Red nails don’t trend. And animal print does not trend. It stays. It adapts. It exists outside the algorithm.

Calling animal print a “trend” is like saying jeans are “having a comeback.” It’s embarrassing.

Fashion has a memory. Algorithms don’t. Animal print isn’t “back”,  you just noticed it again. And maybe that’s the real problem, we’ve forgotten how to have personal style that lasts longer than a season.

There is nothing chicer than having a personal style that doesn’t chase every trend, a style that feels so distinctly yours that people recognize it before you even speak. Finding it is basically the adult version of playing dress-up: you try things, you experiment, you borrow your friends’ clothes, you shift your mood depending on what you’re wearing. Be your own Bratz doll. And the next time you’re staring at animal print wondering how to style it, remember: it’s a neutral.

So next time you call something “in,” ask yourself, would someone have worn this ten years ago?Will someone wear it ten years from now? Would an Italian grandmother approve?

If the answer is yes, it’s not a trend, it’s style.

Text by: Wika Soto-Hay