fashionologie

amfAR Cinema Against Aids Gala Brings Out Dolce, Gabbana, Natasha Poly, and a Little Bit of Twi-Hard in Carine Roitfeld

fashionologie — Thu, 21 May 2009 15:23:57 PDT

>> This evening's amfAR Cinema Against AIDS gala in Cannes promised the appearances of chairs Donatella Versace and Carine Roitfeld, and it more than delivered. Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, who are hosting their annual blowout tomorrow night, have officially docked their "mirrored floating disco" yacht, according to T's Stefano Tonchi, and joined in on the fun. Natasha Poly, who needed the help of two women to get into her Cavalli gown yesterday, reappeared in a leopard dress. Claudia Schiffer made her first red carpet appearance of the festival. And Carine Roitfeld made the rounds, stopping to chat with Twilight's Robert Pattinson.

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DSquared2 Wants Your Attention On Paper, Radio, and TV

fashionologie — Fri, 01 May 2009 11:26:48 PDT

>> Dan and Dean Caten are in serious self-promotion mode, and seem to be following the Isaac Mizrahi model of radio-TV show one-two punch. They're following up their supermodel-heavy catfight-themed Spring 2009 ads with a Fall 2009 set, just shot in London, featuring Lara Stone and themselves - “We’re all about self-promotion now; we’re celebrities in our own right,” Dean semi-joked.

The duo just wrapped taping on a new show for Bravo, Launch My Line, a fashion competition series for which they perform hosting and judging duties. The premise follows 10 fashion designers paired with pop-culture notables who all want to launch their own clothing line. They told Teen Vogue:

Dan and Dean are getting real in America! We think it's a way for the American market to learn who we are as designers - now, for the first time, they'll be able to see us and hear us. Most people here think DSquared2 is all about jeans and T-shirts. Yes, that's our bread and butter . . . but we can cut a beautiful jacket, too!

They have a new radio show, too »

fashionologie — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:54:52 PST

>> ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL -Take Prada Fall 2008, add a dash of Yves Saint Laurent Fall 2008 and you've got a supermodel cocktail for Dsquared2's Spring 2009 campaign - Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista captured in an epic catfight by Steven Meisel, echoing the supermodel theme Dean and Dan Caten had going for their runway show. [Models.com]

Charlie's Angels at Dsquared

coutorture — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 13:01:37 PDT

Dean and Dan Caten may be twins but it seems like they would prefer a threesome with the way they paired up models Esther Canadas, Fernanda Tavares and Nadege du Bospertus for a little bit of Charlie's Angels action at DSquared. That kind of pop cultural repurposement meant we were in for a bit of a boring show, fashion wise at least, if not sheer entertainment value. A sporty, slinky day time wardrobe combined with a va-va voom let me show some leg jersey dress eveningwear is just the sort of thing we would like to see some angels in. Sorry Charlie but that's all you get.

Dean and Dan Caten Leave Lara Stone to Covort with Male Models for Fall 2009 DSquared2 Campaign

fashionologie — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:33:40 PDT

>> Lara Stone has developed a devoted cult following - Carine Roitfeld dedicated an entire issue of Vogue Paris to her, Stella McCartney recently gushed about wanted to "celebrate Lara" and her "fantastic breasts" - and as a result Lara's been able to convert more single girl campaigns. For Fall 2009, she picked up lingerie with Eres and the followup to DSquared2's epic Spring 2009 campaign with Linda Evangelista and Naomi Campbell fighting. Originally, designers Dean and Dan Caten were supposed to join her in the ads shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, but in the images they uploaded, it looks like they went with three male models instead.

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Dsquared2 Fall 2012

fashionologie — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 12:19:28 PST

>> Dean and Dan Caten riffed on the idea of high school - albeit a glamorous, '60s-tinged one - for Fall 2012. There were candy-hued pencil skirts, snug little cardigans, and perky ankle pants - and even a few sparkling evening looks just perfect for "prom." It was a fun, imaginative, and - surprisingly - wearable foray. "We love telling a story. You get where we're coming from," the duo explained backstage.

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Kanye West's Debut Show Met with Criticism, But He's Not Giving Up

fashionologie — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 08:59:18 PDT

>> Kanye West debuted his womenswear collection in Paris Saturday, in front of an audience that included the designers Azzedine Alaia, Joseph Altuzarra, Alexander Wang, Dean and Dan Caten, Olivier Theyskens, Jeremy Scott, and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, plus Anna Wintour.

During his after-party that evening at Club Silencio, West grabbed the microphone to make the following speech: “Thank you for anybody that didn’t believe, because they motivated us to break our boundaries. We don’t know what the reviews will be, we don’t know what they will say, but I got a chance to go to Italy and feel those fabrics. I begged Louis Vuitton to let me do more shoes after my shoes sold out in two weeks, and they did not. I begged Nike, I begged this company to let me do it. And I took out motherf*cking loans to get the best models, to get the best designers, to get the best venue. I gave you everything that I had."

He continued: "This is my first collection. Please be easy. Please give me a chance to grow. This is not some celebrity sh*t. I don’t f*ck with celebrities. I f*ck with the creatives in this room, the amazing people who spend every day of their life trying to make the world a more beautiful place. The amount of people that tried to get me a celebrity f*cking deal. They said, ‘You need to do boot-cut jeans, or you won’t sell.’ Shut the f*ck up ! Or Hedi Slimane in the motherf*cking Mercer, sitting with me, saying, ‘Stop giving them your ideas, Kanye. Do your own thing.’ Hedi Slimane! To feel so frustrated. And I thank anybody who came to this party, everybody who supported, everybody who believed, because people thought it was a joke, and maybe people still do, but I can only grow from this point.”

The reviews came in later, and there were some criticisms. Suzy Menkes noted: "Mr. West followed the sexual energy of the Balmain style, with well-made clothes in fine fabrics. But a celebrity tag and a lively audience filled with music-business friends, does not cut it in Paris." WWD wrote: "A white dress with a strip of a racer back and a pair of colorful leather pants were nice. But in general the leathers and cuts were too clunky. The rest of the collection cribbed from the work of the designers he admires, many of whom were sitting in the audience, and whose ranks he intends to join." The New York Times's Eric Wilson blogged: "There was one good-looking pair of color-blocked pants in blue and coral, but it was obvious that most of the clothes suffered from a poor fit." And from The Wall Street Journal: "A vast quantity of luxury materials can’t blind people to a lack of creative marksmanship."

Cathy Horyn writes that the day after the show, West acknowledged criticism like the poor fit and the casting, and: "He was completely open about the learning-curve problems and indicated that he planned to deal with them."