“She’s the bohemian sister of the guy we showed in January,” said Dean and Dan Caten backstage at today’s show. January seems years away already, with reality making big, disturbing jumps into our collective consciousness. The Dsquared2 spiritual wanderer is a peace and love messenger. “Times are calling for something coming from the heart,” they 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 fall 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.
