DSQUARED2

Early life

Dean and Dan Caten were born in 1964 in Toronto, Ontario, and grew up in the suburb of Willowdale. They have seven older siblings. Their father is from Casalvieri, a small town in Ciociaria, Lazio, Italy. Their mother was from England. In 1983, they moved to New York to study fashion at Parsons School of Design, but stayed for only one semester before returning to Toronto.

Finding a financial backer in 1986, they launched their first signature womenswear collection, DEanDAN. By 1988 they had signed on to label Ports International (currently Ports 1961) as creative directors. At the same time, the Catens are designed for their lower-end, leisure brand, Tabi International. In 1991, the brothers moved to Milan, Italy where they worked as designers for the house of Gianni Versace, and denim brand Diesel, the latter of which funded and launched their namesake brand. They debuted their men's collection in 1994, and in 2003, they launched a women's collection and a men's underwear collection.

Dsquared²

The Dsquared² is an Italian brand and was launched in 1995.

In 2000–01, Madonna commissioned the brothers to design over 150 pieces for her Drowned World Tour 2001 and "Don't Tell Me" music video.

Chris Brown wore a Dsquared² hoodie in his video for his 2017 song "To My Bed".

Controversy

The brothers attended the 2013 Hallowood "Disco Africa" fashion industry party in Milan in racially insensitive costumes. From the décolletage up they appeared as white drag queens with oversized blonde wigs, with their bodies painted brown and adorned in "tribal" costume.

Following the unveiling of its "DSquaw" line at the 2015 Milan Fashion Week, critics expressed outrage at the fashion studio's use of the term squaw, a word which carries strongly racist connotations as a derogatory term for North American indigenous women. Critics furthermore pointed to the appropriation of Inuu and Canadian indigenous decorations and attire in the fashion line itself, calling it a "misappropriation". All instances of "DSquaw" were later taken down from official Dsquared² media and marketing channels.