For For thousands of years, traders and invaders - from the Babylonians to the Egyptians, the Romans and the Greeks - have sailed across the Arabian Sea and arrived on the Keralan Coast, seduced by the commercial potential of spices.

For Volume 15 of SUITCASE Magazine, The Good Life, we too were allured by Kerala, said to be India's happiest and most liberal state, where centuries of ethnic, cultural and religious diversity have left a legacy of multiculturalism and open-mindedness.

Photographer Grant Thomas began the shoot in the rolling hills of Munnar in the Western Ghats mountains, where SUITCASE's Fashion Director Tona Stell styled Wayne Booth (at Tess Management) in earthy colours.

From there, we travelled to Marari Beach, where palm trees provided a Club Tropicana backdrop for swimwear and cover-ups, before finishing our shoot in the Kumarakom backwaters, where an ethereal feeling of calm is reflected in flowing dresses of crimson and white.

Bunny Hazel Clarke (at Sarah Laord and Good Company) was on hand throughout the shoot to keep Wayne looking fresh using Tom Ford Beauty products.