We may be stuck in winter gloom but one look at these beautiful Louis Vuitton (on the right) sandals should spring you out of the depths of January misery. These ethnic/tribal inspired sandals may be a little loud but they are screaming SS09, as summer is setting up to be awash with tropical prints and tribal references.

Alexander McQueen has used prints to the excess with a skeleton motif and colourful crystal patterns reminiscent of his colourful feather dress of SS08. Whereas Peter Piloto's prints are delicate prints of butterflies magnified to create some of the prettiest prints i have seen.

However it was these Louis Vuitton beauty's that first caught my eye. The crazy mix of leopard print, snakeskin, suede and tasseled embellishment on shoes is one way to tap into the look of summer with out going too far.

However if Louis Vuitton sandals are a little out of your wallets range, and lets face it they are out of the range of everyone, then fear not as the likes of Topshop and River Island have come to the rescue.

The pair above(on the right) are from River Island and in my opinion are the closest the high street can get to the original Vuittons. So make sure you are first in line when they hit the stores this summer.