Lily Donaldson cuddles a baby leopard on the cover of the January issue of US Harper’s Bazaar. Photo: Terry Richardson for Harper’s Bazaar

Cartier’s current advertising campaign features a leopard cub chewing a jewellery box. Photo: Cartier

Julianne Moore poses with lion cubs in the Bvlgari campaign shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott. Photo: Bvlgari

There is someone even more beautiful than Lily Donaldson adorning the cover of January’s US Harper’s Bazaar . Cradled in the model’s arms and peering at the camera with limpid blue eyes is a leopard cub, mere weeks old.

The impact of a naked Julianne Moore in Bvlgari’s autumn ad campaign was almost eclipsed by two adorable lion cubs, gambolling amongst the jewels. While the people at Cartier decided not to have the models compete for attention with an infant big cat, and instead allowed the star of its campaign – another baby leopard – to chew their leather jewellery boxes.

For several seasons leopard print has been seen on international runways, but fashion people always have to one-up themselves: you can just hear creative directors at every photo-shoot hollering for the real thing. This season’s must-have accessory is, they will tell you, a live leopard cub.

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