| Proponents of a “species royalty” want designers to pay to help save endangered big cats.  Should designers pay a royalty to use leopard print? That’s the question Rebecca Mead explores in a captivating piece in this week’s Style & Design Issue. For millennia, leopard skin has been repurposed for clothing, dating as far back as ancient Egypt. As a print, the leopard pattern has, during various periods of history, invoked sensuality and fierceness, marked wealth and luxury, and symbolized glamour. When Jacqueline Kennedy wore a leopard coat, in 1962, demand skyrocketed: “It has been estimated that a quarter of a million leopards died to satisfy consumers wanting to dress like Jackie.”  Princess Nefertiabet of Egypt. Photograph from Alamy | Jacqueline Kennedy, in 1962. Photograph from Getty “Today, leopard print has been democratized, and mainstreamed,” Mead writes. The print can be seen both on runways and in offices, and it’s more socially acceptable to wear faux rather than fur. In 2017, a group of researchers at Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, noting the popularity of the print, suggested a new idea for raising conservation funds: a “species royalty” for the use of animal symbolism. But to what extent does wearing or designing clothing with leopard print actually relate to the endangered animals in Africa and Asia? In exploring the history of “big-cat camouflage,” Mead talks with wildlife advocates, interviews Diane von Furstenberg, and reveals how Oleg Cassini, the designer of Jackie Kennedy’s coat, really felt about it. —Jessie Li, newsletter editor | 
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