“I never met a leopard print I didn’t like,” Diana Vreeland once proclaimed. We couldn't agree more. Which is why when Hilary Alexander's book, Leopard, landed on our desks, we went—pardon the pun—absolutely wild for it. The famed British journalist, appointed an OBE in 2013 by Queen Elizabeth herself, traces the pop-culture history of those alluring animal spots, from Funny Girl to the fashion runways, the Spice Girls to Salvador Dalí. Here, a preview and a few other choice quotations about our favorite pattern.

"I feel empowered when I wear leopard print, which comes as no surprise when you consider that female leopards are the hunters of their pride!" — Claudia Schiffer

"My weakness is wearing too much leopard print." — Jackie Collins

"The message of a leopard-print jumpsuit is clear: I am a huntress who delights in eating the offal of her prey." — Simon Doonan