A quick straw poll after Dsquared2’s hoot of a fall show indicated that most people in the audience didn’t notice that the show was cast entirely with identical twins. “That’s so 2022,” sniffed one spectator, no doubt referring to Gucci’s “Twinsburg” spectacle for spring 2023.
Point taken, but surely Dean and Dan Caten, identical Canadian designing brothers, have legitimacy in the space. Backstage, Dan Caten explained that he and Dean put out a casting call on Instagram and received more than 1,000 replies from all over the world, requiring one heck of a whittling down process.
The conceit of their fall show was that identical twins “have different personalities and different characters,” he explained. Hence, a guy or gal done up in Dsquared2’s familiar casualwear pileups — part lumberjack, part prepster — would traverse the gleaming white set, enter a small round chamber and — zap — come out the other side in a louche ’70s-inspired evening ensemble; clingy dance dresses for her; snazzy shirts or vests and tight flares for him.
Perhaps the fashion pros in the audience were too focused on the clothes — which ranged from shredded and soiled cavewoman jerseys to handsome hooded shearling coats — to notice the transformations. The models’ heads were often swallowed by giant trapper hats, or their faces smeared with mud, obscuring these dead ringers from all over the world.
But the last transformation was hard to miss: Dan Caten strode out in a sparkly, sheer shirt and tight black pants and came out the other side of the chamber as Dean Caten approximated Linda Evangelista on a Mugler runway in her redhead phase. The crowd howled with delight.
Before the show, Dan Caten was asked about the difference between him and his twin. “It’s a different attitude. Maybe Dean’s more flamboyant and more exaggerated, and I’m a bit more grounded and more serious.
“I think those two elements are what makes the twin connection perfect,” he mused. “Because we’re such different personalities, we help each other and we really push each other.”
Barring a few barely there baby dolls and a sequin HotPants and chaps combo for one male twin, the collection felt dressier, more luxuriant and less reliant on obvious branding. The fun factor was strong, fueled by twin creative engines.
