Games came to the fore in Dsquared2’s pre-fall collection in two distinct ways. First was the reference to the Winter Olympics, which are taking place in Cortina, Italy, in February 2026. Second, Dean and Dan Caten were thinking about garments and materials that play tricks on the eye.
Using an autumnal palette, the designers relied on layering to combine “something tailored with something proper, together with something not really proper,” to use their own words. Thus, a cotton trucker jacket was flocked and brushed to look like suede and then paired with flannel checkered shirts, while suits were proposed in a worn-out effect, completely wrinkled, and a trench was unusually decorated with schoolboy-like doodles.
This aesthetic choice was even more extreme in the women’s proposals, where many pieces were the result of an experimental hybridization. The clearest example was the cinched-waist parka made from combining a trucker, a biker jacket, and a bomber. Bombers were among the main protagonists within the women’s collection. In both a traditional military green and in a deep burgundy, they were twisted to become form-fitting, or disassembled to become a pencil skirt or a hybrid jacket with sweatshirt inserts. The hybridizing technique was also applied to a long coat with a built-in leather belt and pants pockets. On the more glamorous end of the equation, a series of black pieces included both cocktail dresses and oversized formal jackets with cut-outs, together with shimmering flowy frocks of a 2000s vintage.
