Picture credit: Instagram/dsquared2
DSQUARED2's Caten brothers, Dean and Dan, are exactly what you hope they will be: chatty and tanned, groomed and opinionated, the perfect balance of enthusiasm and sarcasm. A ten-minute tour of the brothers' new store on the corner of Savile Row and Conduit Street - the biggest DSquared2 space in the world, 7,664sq feet - is very much like being swept away in a fabulously colourful rollercoaster. Just hang on and enjoy the ride.
Picture credit: Indigital
"London is just such a great international city," Dean told us as we wandered around the new womenswear floor - complete with an eveningwear area that can be curtained off while you shop with your friends or husband, "who will hopefully be paying for your dresses," Dan noted. "We're living here now, so having a nice presence in London is really important for us. The store came up and it was just a great space - right between Bond Street and Regent Street, but also on the corner of Savile Row, which is such an important street for menswear. This is our first store with the new concept in Europe, and we're rolling it out in New York, LA and Miami too, then we have to change all the other ones!"
Sleek and shiny, with dark wood and tonal mirrors, the store has a feeling of height, even in the stairways - and boasts three floors, including a men's tailoring space on the ground floor; men's casualwear, denim and accessories in the basement; and a large womenswear offering on the airy first floor. It's a far cry from the witty lumberyard feel of the original store set-up.
A look from DSquared2's latest collection for autumn/winter 2015
Picture credit: Indigital
"The original concept was much rawer," Dan explained, "with wood planks, antlers: it looked Canadian. So, we just tried to refine it. The antlers are still present, but now they are black; the forest pictures that we used to have are now black and white instead of green; and the wood is still important, but it's sleeker. All the elements are still here, they're just more sophisticated."
Having turned 50 last year - celebrated, of course, with a decadent party in an Alpine ski lodge which, despite being held atop a snow-covered mountain, was "very heel-friendly inside" - the brothers are conscious that the brand, which began as irreverent daywear and denim, must evolve with its customer.
A model backstage at the spring/summer 2015 show
"The evolution of the stores reflects the brand, definitely, and it reflects our customers," Dan added. "We're not the only ones getting older. Our customer is individual, confident, sexy, they don't want to look like everybody. They believe, like we do, that the clothes should not wear the person, the person should wear the clothes. Cool and relaxed. When they started shopping, they wore jeans and jumpers like we did, but now they need a tuxedo in their closet too."
Never short of celebrity fans, who would they love to dress but haven't yet?
"We wouldn't be in business if we liked the way other people dressed," Dean smirked. So who already wears DSquared2 well then? "Madonna, Rihanna, Rita Ora: strong, cool women with individuality."
Decades in fashion mean that they certainly have a few stories to tell - and are never far away from controversy, but one fashion whisper (seemingly originating from Wikipedia) just will not go away.
"We can't get rid of the rumour that we worked for Gianni Versace!" Dean laughed. "We never did. We were friends with him, and we wore gowns for him! But, we never designed for him. Walked, worked, maybe that's where the confusion has come from. Anyway, it's not true."
Fortunately, with an imposing presence on one of London's busiest thoroughfares, it's unlikely they'll ever have to work for anyone else again.
