It was quite evident who Dolce and Gabbana’s influence was at their Fall 2009 runway collection. Rather than focus on the boulder shoulder, shocking pink and giant accessory size buttons that made Elsa Schiaparelli so famous, it was the prints that really pulled this collection together and made it modern and relevant for today. I am glad that Dolce and Gabbana shied away from the obvious surrealistic print story that Schiaparelli was also famous for. I believe it would have made the collection more of a costume history lesson. I like the subtlety of the prints, particularly the textural ones. The torn mesh and netting prints are a great evolution of the lace print. D&G are never a stranger to animal prints which are showing up on practically every catwalk show. However, I like the way they printed the animal over an all ready printed or jacquarded fabric. The photographic print made an appearance with Marylin Monroe’s gorgeous mug printed on ball gowns, however I’m not really sure how that fits in here. Perhaps it has something to do with the Extreme Beauty in Vogue exhibition celebrating legendary photographers from the 1930’s to today that the designers are involved with. Either way, an overall gorgeous collection.