Early in the week, at the New York shows, DVF showed safari style prints for her A/W 09 look, I gasped thinking that surely Safari is purely a summer look, but Caroline followed suit with the first section of her show ‘Land Girls' being all about the sassy print.

There were big Leopard faux fur coats, sleek print blouses and flowing tunics. Separates were paired down with straight cut trousers in browns and olive greens. Most notable was the styling; scarves were wrapped round heads, knotted at the neck, or simply tied to across the body bags. More evident though was the lack of heels. Models had their slim fit trousers tucked nonchalantly into cowboy boots, practically unheard of on a runway! Actually I think that is why I love CC, she doesn't care about rules, and after all, her models ALWAYS smile; as the veteran fashionista told me ‘When we cast the girls, I make them smile'.

Leopard prints moved into tweeds, where mustard based and brown based tweeds were mixed to create cool contradictory suiting for the modern woman. Skirts tended to be waisted pencils, while jackets, like last season's show were sealed with a skinny belt at the waist. Outerwear was also a huge part of the collection, coats had tall collars and were often belted with a cinching, waist style belts.

There was definitely a ‘shooting, hunting, fishing' vibe, with braces on high waisted trousers that had great front pleating, creating fuller leg shapes. Prints moved from animal to a mix of old and ditzy florals that mainly adorned tunic style dresses.

As always there were different sections to the collection, having had our fill of the 40's the girls skipped into ‘Urban Cool'. This was a more metallic section of the show. Tailored jacket, classic leather outerwear and work wear reflected the city landscape in greys and bronze. Trousers were wide, skirts slim fitted and tough, obi style wrap belts added detail to the classic look. Work wear moved into the evening with a selection of fantastic cropped tux style jackets and incredibly well tailored trousers (my top pick).

The last selection was Caroline Charles well known selection of cocktail wear. There was tones of floral embellishment that was so sparkly I considered whipping out my sunglasses! This selection mixed monochrome colouring with bright hues of reds that had a real Oriental feel. My feelings were confirmed when Oriental style jackets and dress silhouettes appeared in a host of bright floral prints.

Another great collection from Caroline Charles, she may not be Henry Holland but her commercially viable, well crafted and beautifully put together collection will still have people splashing the cash.

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Words Rivkie Baum

Photography Rodney Compton