Naughty Boys. DsQuared2 AW25

February 26, 2025 | Design & Culture by Ed

Yesterday in Milan, Dean & Dan Caten celebrated 30 years of DsQuared2: three decades of naughty bravado, sultry hedonism and campy glamour. Their autumn-winter 2025 fashion show, which had everything from a Doechii performance to Naomi Campbell finale walk, was a glorious look-back at the Canadian brothers’ all-time favorite runway characters. There were cowboys, lumberjacks, bombshells, BDSM aficionados, high-octane starlets. It all ended with Brigitte Nielsen dressed as a police officer, arresting the Catens – who, dapper in tuxedos and towering platforms, broke free from their cuffs, kicking off a raucous after-party. Fun fact: the Dsquared2 line-up included collaborations with Magliano, Vaquera, and Bettter, all of whom were welcomed into the Catens’ archives to rework past designs. The brothers still know what’s up.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Raunchy Hot! DsQuared2 SS24

June 17, 2023June 17, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

Nobody serves raunchy hotness (and sex) in Milano like DsQuared2‘s Caten twins. The backdrop scenario from yesterday’s spring-summer 2024 fashion show: a penthouse overlooking Miami Beach where porn star Rocco Siffredi was (pretending to) film (what else?!) a porn movie starring Julia Fox enjoying herself (euphemistically speaking) with an unidentified partner on a four poster bed hidden from view (barely) by a screen. Guests attending the show were treated to the aforementioned vignette serving as the catwalk’s backdrop, with an aside of moaning by Donna Summer’s “Love To Love You Baby.” Everyone familiar with Dean and Dan Caten knows their irrepressible naughty, funny streak. But here they surpassed themselves. “It’s steamy. Sexual versus proper. WASP-y country club versus raunchy. Privileged upper crust trying out adult entertainment,” they chanted in unison. “Elites meet snob. Snob meets knob.” The collection was a barely-there rendition of the Catens’ 2000s mash-ups, reduced to a minimum of body coverage. Yet the humor made the bawdiness of the show outrageously entertaining. After an endless parade of preppy-golf-tennis wear hybridizations with plenty of exposed underwear (for guys) and a series of almost-in-a-state-of-undress minidresses, one skimpier than the other (for girls), out came Fox, clad in a virginal white lace babydoll, all frills and ruches (an homage to ’90s porn star Cicciolina perhaps?) But the cherry on the over-the-top cake was the finale, with Rocco Siffredi taking to the catwalk and opening his blue blazer to reveal a red T-shirt emblazoned with the acronym V.I.P. – Very Important Penis. I’m here for sex and fun having a big return to fashion, and DsQuared2 leads the game.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Spiritual Wanderer. DsQuared2 AW22

March 1, 2022March 1, 2022 | Design & Culture by Ed

The Dsquared2 spiritual wanderer is a peace and love messenger. “Times are calling for something coming from the heart,” Dean and Dan Caten said. “Let’s come together in harmony and unity, protecting freedom. Peace, love and freedom, that’s the only message.” The Catens have perfected the maximalist mashup, with layering elevated to an art form. Describing every look of the autumn-winter 2022 collection would take ages, as their mastery of fashion combination is not only inventive but meticulous. “Every outfit hides a memory, a talisman, an amulet found during a journey,” they said. Charms, dangling bell chains chiming at every step, and healing crystal necklaces were part of a hippy wanderlust wardrobe grounded in great oversized outerwear, puffy, outdoorsy, inventively engineered and hybridized. There’s lots of method in the Catens’ apparent madness. Knitwear was one of the collection’s standouts, chunky, enveloping, mostly proposed in striped folksy patterns. It was worn over flowy short apron dresses layered over tartan kilts or cargo pants, or over ultra-washed, extra-fluid denim pants. Blanket coats and ponchos, fake fur coats, and an array of tops, printed dresses of various lengths and unspecified layering pieces were mixed together with creative abandon. It made for a fun, lively outing, a welcome jolt of energy and optimism.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Men’s – 25 Years. Dsquared2 AW20

January 12, 2020 | Design & Culture by Ed

While I can’t recall Dsquared2 catching my attention in the last few years, Dean and Dan Caten‘s men’s autumn-winter 2020 show – simultaneously being their 25th anniversary show – was something the label needed: sharp, naughty and distinctly Dsquared2. The collection paid homage to the label’s past – think whild, shouty, at times crappy 2000s fashion. Probably the oversize knit blanket coat was a nod to Naomi Campbell’s first look at their notoriously great autumn-winter 2003 airplane show. There was Western-inspired style they conceived for Madonna’s “Don’t Tell Me” video. The collection was also all about sultry pioneer vintage. The silhouette was narrow at the bottom (tight kicked pants and jeans for boys, bare legs for girls topped by under-butt skirts) and volumized above (big shearling jackets, fake-fur fringed herringbone overcoats, a great waxed horseman’s long coat). Also, when was the last time ripped denim and plaid shirts looked so hot? One might wonder if the beginnings of 2020s should look back at 2000s fashion in such a literal way. But it’s Dsquared2, it’s a glossy, loud, non-stop after-party.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Glamour Loves Humour. DsQuared2 SS17

September 27, 2016September 27, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Dean and Dan Caten‘s spring-summer 2017 collection at DsQuared2 is a collage of everything opulent and glamorous, with a good sense of humour. Leopard-print bustiers; leg-of-mutton sleeves (they seem to be everywhere this season) over a glossy taffeta mini-skirt; extremely slim, intricately embroidered cavalry jackets. The Canadian brothers play with volumes, blurring the lines between high-fetched femininity and slouchy masculinity. Sequined, over-sized denim pants worn with big shoulder pads at the top gave an impression of a hilarious exaggeration. The long-legged models looked even taller in those quite cartoonish combinations. DsQuared2 ends Milan Fashion Week in a very Italian way I must say – it’s an endless dolce vita for those two guys!