Microtrend Alert: Bunny prints abound!

image source: Chloe Giordano

Happy Easter from everyone here at Polychrome! Usually when you think of Spring, what comes to mind is all the floral prints and bright colours that one would expect. This year, though, we're noticing a new print motif trending as well: BUNNIES! Pattern designers are creating prints featuring our favourite woodland creature and runway designers are showing the motif as well. Bunny and Rabbit motifs are IN right now, and there's no better time than Easter to celebrate them!

Ever wonder why the Bunny became Easter's symbol?

Every year, Easter falls on the first Sunday following the vernal (Spring) equinox. But why do we represent this Christian holiday with a bunny? Around the same time as Easter each year there is a Pagan holiday celebrating the Germanic Goddess of Fertility. The symbol of the Goddess, named Eastre, is a hare. As Christianity encompassed and absorbed various other pagan symbols, so too it latched onto this one.

And what's with all those chocolate eggs? In folklore, Eastre extended winter for a year, and in guilt decided to save a young frozen bird. As he could no longer fly, she chose to turn him into a hare that laid colourful eggs. This rabbit could ONLY lay eggs during the festival of Eastre. German children honored this by creating nests for the hare to lay the eggs each year. When German immigrants came to America in the 1700s, they brought this tradition with them. Over time, it adapted to include chocolates and decorated baskets.

Rabbits on the Runway

Rabbit prints are starting to pop up on runways as motifs on prints and accessories. At Prada's 2018 Resort show rabbit prints by artist James Jean proliferated. From the beautiful handbags to the fun printed dresses, Prada made sure to bring their all in giving us the rabbit prints we anticipated for this spring. MCM gave us some bunny festooned bags for this Spring/Summer 2018 collection. Alena Akhmadullina showed some creative bunny prints in her Spring 2018 Ready to Wear. There were also some fun rabbit keychains in Louis Vuitton's Master Collection, which were meant to adorn the handbags in the collection.

original Polychrome prints: Bunny Tapestry | Folk Papercut

Want to see more bunny inspiration?

Check out our "Rabbits and Bunnies" Pinterest board to see what's shaping this trend!

Other Sources: Spotted Fashion | Woman's Day | Vogue Runway

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