Identical twin Dsquared2 designers Dean and Dan Caten brand themselves as the square of each other, and today they cubed unlikely themes—samurai x Victoriana x combat—in a collection that equaled a highly relishable mash-up. The prime numbers here were absolutely the outerwear pieces, most notably two sleeved cuirasses crafted in cut colored fur, two more in fur-trimmed beaded panels, and a mighty fur-lined sequined camo parka.
Because the designers had determined that some element from each theme would inflect each look, that parka was teamed with a black feathered and sequined dress (whose length would have scandalized its source Victorians), plus body-stocking tattoos derived from Japanese illustration and sharp heels armored by lamellar panels. And so this power-of-three collection went.
A key garment was the combat pant, slung low on the hip and cut just south of the knee; later there were boned jodhpur variants. The military references spanned camouflage—on that parka, combat pant, and a panel-shouldered M-65—but also expanded into a scarlet-piped indigo and regimental uniform. One handbag featured a cartridge-case strap, and there was a submariner knit crop top in nonauthentic but comely olive. Victoriana was turned inside out via external girdling and those fast-and-loose lengths. Fringed curtain tassels jiggled on accessories, capelet shoulders, and earrings, while high-fitted black satin jackets with hard emphasized shoulders and slim long gowns were lined with Victorian widower black tulle, lace ruffles, and beading.
“You can never be too crazy,” Dan Caten (I think) said afterward. “The more you fuck it up, the better.” Hmm—that philosophy seems dubious—but today Dsquared2’s crazed combination conspired to form a pleasing solution.
