Stylish Animal Print Inspiration from Danish Women

Everyone who knows me knows that I always come back from Copenhagen Fashion week with a renewed sense of self. Suddenly, I’m displaying my butter in large mounds on old Royal Copenhagen ceramics, redecorating my home entirely in midcentury modern pieces, and getting dressed with a sense of whimsy. More patterns, more prints, more bows. The most stylish Danes know how to have fun, and it inspires me even in the dead of winter, which is typically when my wardrobe mimics the sad dullness of the dark snow mounds on the sidewalks of New York.

Every season, I take in my surroundings of what guests are wearing to the shows and on the streets outside of them. This season, I was delighted to realize everyone was wearing my favorite neutral: animal print. Perhaps my most controversial fashion opinion (aside from my belief that dresses look incredible over pants) is that leopard, tiger, zebra—all of the animalistic stripes and dots and so on and so forth—go with everything. The fashionable population of Copenhagen proves my point.

It’s safe to say they also think quiet luxury is dead. Maximalism is back! The goal is to look eccentric, like you have a story to tell. Animal print does exactly that: It adds intrigue to any look.

In Copenhagen, every single person I saw wearing animal print exuded a strong sense of self. They had the kind of confidence personal-style TikTokers preached about years ago. They looked like main characters. And isn’t that always the goal when you get dressed in the morning?

But most importantly, I think I realized that in Copenhagen, animal print is styled with ease. No one seems to second-guess or worry if it’s too much. Sometimes they wear head-to-toe animal print. Other times they wear it to add another element to an otherwise simple look. Some people seem to think animal print is intimidating, but the Danes prove it doesn’t have to be.