Canadian twin brothers from Willowdale, Ontario, Dean and Dan Caten have operated in the international fashion business since 1984. They moved to New York City in 1983 to attend the Parsons School of Design and in 1991 moved to Italy where after many collaborations with the most important fashion houses, staged their first men’s collection show in 1994. This marked the first in a long succession of runway extravaganzas that were to capture the attention of journalists and buyers coveting their perfect combination of fashion, music and theatre.
The intelligent mix of irreverent Canadian wit and refined Italian tailoring, together with attention to detail are the foundation of today’s Dsquared2 philosophy, which has given life to a unique concept of alternative luxury. Recently, Dsquared2 collections have conquered a wider audience and, owing to their natural stylistic maturity, have become more chic and sophisticated while maintaining those sexy and provocative traits so embedded in their creative roots. This evolution is also due to the continuous international inspiration received by Dean and Dan, who, while dividing their life and work between Milan and London, create their collections in Italy: “Born in Canada, living in London, made in Italy.”
The union of fashion and music is for Dsquared2 unbreakable. Since the very beginning Dsquared2 has always attracted a following among international celebrities: Lenny Kravitz, Justin Timberlake, Ricky Martin, Rihanna, Christina Aguilera, Robbie Williams and just recently Britney Spears are all devotees of the brand. But it is thanks to a lucky encounter with Madonna that the Caten twins were able to leave an indelible mark on the world of international show business. They were commissioned to design 150 outfits both for the artist and her dancers for the video “Don’t Tell Me” and for the 2002 Drowned World Tour.
The success of Dsquared2 with Madonna’s CD launched the Fall-Winter 03/04 season with a full Dsquared2 Women’s Collection. Supermodels Naomi Campbell, Eva Herzigova, Karolina Kurkova and Fernanda Tavares were featured as rock stars disembarking from a candy-pink private jet. The following day, the prestigious trade publication, WWD, featured Dsquared2 on its front cover and published a two-page interview, in which Dan said: “The Dsquared2 woman is self-assured, vibrant and sexy; the perfect complement to our signature men’s look.”
The Dsquared2 lifestyle is most exquisitely expressed in the ad campaigns for which the Caten twins partnered with some of the most well-known fashion photographers in the world. For years the Dsquared2 ad image was managed by Steven Klein, who was behind the shots for some of the most original and innovative ad campaigns in the last few years such as FW02-03’s “Homeless”, SS03’s “Cottage Country,” FW03-04’s “Star-24-7,” SS04’s “Dean & Dan’s Dinner,” FW04-05’s “Great White North” and SS05’s “Bachelor’s Party.” But the Dsquared2 image has since evolved in a more sophisticated direction, employing shots of Gisele Bündchen provided by Mert & Marcus for the Autumn-Winter 05/06 campaign and of super-sexy cowgirl Carmen Kaas for the Spring-Summer 2006 collection photographed by Mikael Jansson.
Since Spring-Summer 2007, Dean and Dan have chosen to collaborate with Steven Meisel, who in the new Spring Summer 2009 campaign portrays a trial battle between two magnificent “Fighting Women”: the two iconic top-models of the 90s Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista. Meisel is also the mastermind behind the images of the first Dsquared2 male and female fragrances, "He Wood" and "She Wood", as well as the brand new eyewear collection campaign.
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