When DSquared2, the Italian-by-way-of-Canada luxury brand helmed by identical twin brothers Dan and Dean Caten, opened the doors of its first U.S. stand-alone retail space in Beverly Hills in mid-September, it seemed uncharacteristically subdued. After all, this is a cheeky luxury label whose inspirations have included a hockey / "Rocky Horror Picture Show" mash-up and prison life, whose runway shows have seen Christina Aguilera pantsing male models and Rihanna making her catwalk debut in a black babydoll dress.
One reason for the quiet opening was that the brothers Caten were nine time zones away getting ready to send their spring-summer 2015 women's ready-to-wear collection down a Milanese runway. But there was also a certain minimalist look and feel to the 4,500-square-foot, two-level space at 461 N. Rodeo Drive, with its exposed 30-foot ceiling and color palette of muted earth tones. It was a decided departure from the brand's first retail store: an over-the-top boutique that opened in Milan in 2007 boasting rough-cut timber walls, moose antler chandeliers and a plasma screen depicting a crackling fireplace.
With the Beverly Hills boutique set to serve as a template for two additional U.S. stores that are scheduled to open before year's end — in Bal Harbour, Fla., and New York City — and the label on the cusp of its 20th birthday, does this mean the brand known for a witty blend of naughty and nice is toning down and growing up?
Hardly. Two weeks later, on a 48-hour visit to the City of Angels to fine-tune details at the store, the co-founders quickly dispelled that notion as they sat for a moment to discuss the Milan-based brand's history, plans for the future and why Beverly Hills became the beachhead boutique for their U.S. retail effort.
"I think the [runway] shows still hold up pretty well," Dan Caten said when asked if the duo might have tempered their catwalk antics over time. "We're still theatrical people, and we love to put on a show, I just think the collections are getting richer and more good-looking. I think we're getting better with time, with practice."
As for the vibe of the store? That's a nod to both the bones of the building and the Rodeo Drive setting. "We want each store to have a different air about it; we don't want them to be cookie-cutter," Dan Caten said.
"And each one [of our stores] has a nod to the city that it's in," added Dean, stepping in to finish the sentence. (The globe-trotting brothers, 49, not only work together but live together in London and finish each other's sentences so often and smoothly that over the course of an interview it sometimes feels they are two hemispheres of the same brain instead of two separate people.) "We wanted to do a contrast, make a statement and do something very elegant."
The interior of the vertically oriented space has a particularly airy feel — especially for Rodeo Drive — aided by bringing in just a touch of the outdoors, thanks to photo prints of dense forestland that cover the walls in the back of the store in homage to the brothers' Canadian roots. The men's range — including the current prison-inspired fall 2014 collection — takes up most of the ground floor with the women's line downstairs.
Curiously, there is no dedicated VIP space — odd for a brand that has a deep bench of celebrity clientele. The brothers have created custom costumes for the likes of Madonna (150 outfits for the singer and her dancers for a 2002 tour), Britney Spears (for her 2009 circus-themed tour) and Beyoncé (who wore a custom piece inspired by the brothers' spring-summer 2013 "Glamazon" collection on her 2013-2014 world tour).
A Southern California store, Dan Caten said, was simply a matter of metrics. "Our online store gives us all kinds of data that the best market for our line is America and the top city … is Los Angeles."
Though the label has long been available at a range of brick-and-mortar U.S. retailers including Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue, the Rodeo Drive space marks the first time such a depth and breadth of the Dsquared2 brand has been offered under one stateside roof. The wares not only include apparel, from denim and screen-print T-shirts to tuxedos and red-carpet-worthy evening gowns, but men's and women's footwear, handbags, eyewear, fragrances and men's underwear. (All that's missing is their kids' line.)
The brothers see this kind of retail as key to the brand's growth. "When you come here you see our whole world; you get a complete understanding of who and what we are as a brand," Dean said.
"And a glass of Champagne," Dan added, going on to explain that they've found stand-alone stores in a market actually result in increased department store business in the same market.
Dsquared2's stateside retail push comes after nearly two decades of what the Catens call "slow and steady" growth that has resulted in more than a dozen boutiques across the globe including Paris, Tokyo and Beijing and an apparel and accessories empire that the brothers say is expected to see global wholesale revenue of 200 million euro (or $253.58 million at current exchange rates) for 2014. (By comparison, published reports give 2006 sales at $108 million).
Born as Dan and Dean Catenacci in Toronto, the brothers graduated from Parsons the New School for Design in New York City and worked for a handful of brands before moving in 1991 to Milan, where they cut their design teeth at Versace and Diesel.
The Dsquared2 label officially launched with a men's spring-summer 1995 apparel and footwear collection, with women's debuting for fall 2003. (Dean says the women's line has since grown to account for 40% of sales.)
Over the years the brothers have dabbled in side projects that have included a stint on "America's Next Top Model," a monthly Sirius XM radio show and hosting a fashion reality show "Launch My Line" that aired on Bravo in late 2009 and early 2010. It lasted a single season but, like their other projects, helped expose the brand and the cheeky showmanship of its founders to the public.
Beyond the two additional U.S. stores in the works, and a new flagship and studio space in London, the brothers are reluctant to say what's next. Dan hinted that their first foray into food — a restaurant called Ceresio 7 atop their Milan offices — has been open a year and has been doing well enough that the concept might be worth expanding. Other than that, all they'll say is that they've got plans.
"Stay tuned," Dan Caten said with a grin.
"The list of things to do before we leave this planet are many," added Dean. "As the Carpenters would say: 'We've only just begun.'"
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