Despite the fact that the spring 2026 Dsquared2 collections weren’t presented on the runway, “exaggeration” was the word Dean and Dan Caten used to describe them. Strong contrasts between prints, shapes, and bold decorations were designed to achieve “excess”—another adjectives used by the Catens. Thus, they nodded to the glamour of fashion editorials from the 1990s and 2000s and their own passion for breaking the rules.
The men’s proposal juxtaposed the sexiness of see-through pop-colored shirts and a recurring cheetah print with more sartorial suits, as well as canvas workwear overshirts, trucker jackets, and camouflage parkas. Studs and intarsia embroidery are typical Dsquared2 touches, but the “decoration game” went even harder with transparent maxi-sequins and ton-sur-ton cockade appliqués. Similar decorations were applied to the womenswear, as proven by the magenta micro-skirt and wide pants. Even the massive power shoulders of rugby-inspired tops were shared across men’s and women’s, highlighting the Catens’ propensity for complex constructions, a concept reinforced by built-in underwear waistbands on both denim and sweatshirt fabrics.
Hybrids were present in both collections: Corsetry was reinterpreted on military pieces worn over floating dresses for women; and on the men’s side, blazers were combined with activewear fastenings and sporty tank tops were embellished with backpack straps for a fake layered effect. The bodysuit-shirt was strongly highlighted, and also in the mix were t-shirts with prints referencing the Dsquared2 archive from the ICONique capsule introduced during the Catens’ 30th anniversary show in February.
