Fine art photography exhibition and sale of animal-print fashion at Dolce&Gabbana London boutique to benefit the world’s most persecuted wild cat
Media Contact: Susie Weller Sheppard, sweller@panthera.org, 347-446-9904
New York, NY - In a unique collaboration weaving the worlds of fashion, photography and conservation, Italian luxury fashion house Dolce&Gabbana, together with Panthera, the global wild cat conservation organization, and artist Celina Chien have joined forces to protect and shine a spotlight on the often-overlooked leopard.
True to its name, an exhibition entitled “LEOPARD: Honouring the Muse” will be hosted at a Dolce&Gabbana boutique on Old Bond Street, London from October 14-20, displaying exclusive works of fine art photography from Chien and leopard-inspired Dolce&Gabbana creations. Dolce&Gabbana will donate a percentage of proceeds to Panthera from any animal-print clothing sold at its Old Bond Street boutique during the one-week exhibition. A portion of sales from a silent auction of Chien’s photographs and booklette will also support Panthera’s leopard conservation program.
Leopard print continues to inspire fashion’s muses, even as the magnificent cat fights for its own survival. Coveted for its iconic coat, the leopard is likely the most persecuted wild cat in the world. Extinct in 13 countries and possibly extinct in seven more, leopards have vanished from at least two-thirds of their historic range in Africa and an estimated 84 percent of their historic range in Eurasia.
Panthera Co-Founder and Global Alliance for Wild Cats Chair, Dr. Thomas S. Kaplan, stated: “While Celina credits the leopard as the muse for her stunning photography and passionate storytelling, we at Panthera look to her and the truly gorgeous animal-inspired products from Dolce&Gabbana as our muses in return. They call us to further leverage the singular power of fashion, art, design and language to foster connections with a wider audience, evoke empathy for wild cats and ultimately move people to action.”
Kaplan continued: “We are immensely grateful to Celina for forging this special collaboration with Dolce&Gabbana — an iconic house that has long celebrated leopard print in their collections, reminding us of the species’ rare beauty and boldness. I am confident that the exciting association of their creativity with Panthera’s unparalleled expertise will continue to propel the wild cat conservation movement forward in new and dynamic ways.”
A member of Panthera’s Conservation Council and a finalist for the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year in 2021, Chien has combined her roles as an ecologist, photojournalist and actor to tell stories, harness empathy for change and advocate for conserving biodiversity. Her photographs have been exhibited in galleries including London’s Natural History Museum.
Artist and Panthera Conservation Council Member Celina Chien stated: “I am thrilled to partner with Panthera and Dolce&Gabbana to honour my muse — the leopard — and rekindle the central connection between animal and design. We as a global community must reclaim the leopard as a symbol of our collective reverence, rather than its legacy of exploitation. And we’re running out of time. The demand for their skins, coupled with human expansion and the strains of co-existence between leopards and humans in an industrialised world, are all to blame for their current status on the very edge of extinction.”
Chien continued: “The leopard print is a fashion constant — it may go in and out of season, but it never goes out of style. So how much longer before the spots are back in season, but the creature that inspired it has been extinguished from this Earth?”
Panthera Chairman, Jon Ayers, stated: “We are honored to be working with a legendary brand like Dolce&Gabbana and a creative force like Celina. The leopard enjoys immense cultural and creative staying power, and it is incumbent upon us conservationists to ensure that future generations also know this majestic animal. The funds and awareness raised through this partnership will no doubt push forward our efforts to save this most splendid species.”
This exhibition builds on Panthera’s ongoing #LeopardSpotted campaign, which encourages wearers of leopard print to hashtag their social media posts — #LeopardSpotted — and donate to Panthera’s leopard conservation efforts. Panthera’s Furs for Life Leopard Project also involves the creation of high-quality and affordable synthetic leopard fur capes, known as Heritage Furs, to help replace the use of real leopard furs in southern Africa.
In a consequential decision, earlier this year Dolce&Gabbana announced that it would phase out the use of fur in its designs starting in 2022 in favor of “eco-furs.”
As one of the world’s most far-reaching leopard conservation programs in existence, Panthera’s Project Pardus currently operates in ten countries to reduce poaching and human-leopard conflict, stabilize and increase leopard prey populations and reduce unsustainable legal trophy hunting.
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© Sebastian Kennerknecht
