Its time to take a trip. The biggest trend for S/S09 was escapism, with designers looking to different cultures and continents for new ideas.
Although Africa was the most common source of inspiration meaning headwraps and batik prints at Junya Watanabe, sequinned safari pants at Ralph Lauren and animal print chiffon at Dior you could also find India, Mexico, Japan and Morocco somewhere too, if you looked.
The resulting culture fusion meant glorious colour clash prints, enormous wooden accessories, leather braiding, fringing, beading and every decorative effect imaginable. The whole thing came together most gloriously at Louis Vuitton, where Marc Jacobs thought about Josephine Baker in Paris during the 1920s and then dreamed up a joyfully mismatched, flirtatious collection and the best shoes of the season.
