A quick poll after Dsquared2's fall show indicated that most people in the audience didn't realize that the show was made up entirely of identical twins. “That's 2022,” one viewer snorted, no doubt referring to Gucci's spring 2023 “Twinsburg” show.
Point taken, but surely Dean and Dan Caten, identical Canadian designer brothers, have legitimacy in the space. Backstage, Dan Caten explained that he and Dean held a casting call on Instagram and received over 1,000 responses from around the world, which required a huge narrowing process.
The conceit of his fall show was that identical twins “have different personalities and characters,” he explained. So, a guy or girl dressed in Dsquared2's familiar casual wear (part lumberjack, part prepster) would walk across the gleaming white stage, enter a small round chamber, and, zap, come out the other side in an outfit casual evening inspired by the 70s. ; tight prom dresses for her; smart shirts or vests and fitted bell-bottoms for him.
Perhaps the fashion professionals in the audience were too focused on the clothes (which ranged from torn and dirty caveman T-shirts to beautiful hooded shearling coats) to notice the transformations. The models' heads were often swallowed by giant hunter hats, or their faces smeared with mud, obscuring these dead duplicates from around the world.
But the latest transformation was hard to miss: Dan Caten stepped out in a shiny, sheer shirt and tight black pants and stepped out on the other side of the camera as Dean Caten approached Linda Evangelista on a Mugler runway in her redhead phase. The crowd howled with joy.
Before the show, Dan Caten was asked about the difference between him and his twin. “It's a different attitude. Maybe Dean is more flamboyant and over-the-top, and I'm a little more down-to-earth and more serious.
“I think those two elements are what make the twin connection perfect,” he reflected. “Because we have such different personalities, we help each other and really push each other.”
Except for a few barely-there dolls and a combination of HotPants and sequin chaps for one twin, the collection seemed sleeker, more exuberant and less reliant on obvious brands. The fun factor was strong, driven by twin creative engines.
