Dsquared2

Dsquared2 opened in 1995 in Milan, founded by Canadian twins Dean and Dan Caten, born Catenacci in Toronto in 1964. The brothers spent a single semester at Parsons in New York in 1983, returned to Toronto to co-direct womenswear at Ports International, and moved to Milan in 1991 to freelance for Versace and Diesel.

Diesel founder Renzo Rosso put up the funding for the launch, and the debut men’s collection for fall 1996 was titled “Homesick Canada Collection.” Their motto, “Born in Canada, made in Italy,” framed the label from the start, and the Italian press treated them as the loud, sexy, North American answer to the muted Milan establishment.

Menswear was the foundation. The first show presented torn jeans, lumberjack shirting, western buckles, and lean tailoring cut close to the body, drawing on Canadian wilderness and American roadside iconography filtered through Italian production. The denim program became the commercial engine of the house, alongside slim double-breasted suits, leather outerwear, graphic knitwear, and footwear.

That theatrical, celebrity-driven positioning placed Dsquared2 alongside Roberto Cavalli, Versace, and John Galliano’s Dior Homme as one of the labels that defined the sexed-up early 2000s menswear moment. Madonna commissioned 150 pieces for her 2001 Drowned World Tour and wore the label in the “Don’t Tell Me” video, and the brothers designed the Juventus off-pitch uniforms in 2006.

Dsquared2 scaled through a production and distribution license with Staff International, the operating arm of Renzo Rosso’s OTB Group, first signed in 2000 and renewed in 2010 through 2027. The Catens terminated the deal in March 2025 to bring production in-house, OTB sued, and in January 2026 the two sides realigned and renewed the partnership under a new long-term agreement.

The Caten brothers celebrated the label’s thirtieth anniversary in Milan in February 2025 with a runway show staged as a New York nightclub, featuring Naomi Campbell, Doechii, Tyson Beckford, and Brigitte Nielsen. Today Dsquared2 dresses the global luxury menswear shopper through denim, tailoring, and sportswear aimed at the music and celebrity customer. It holds a thirty-year position as the Canadian-Italian outlier of Milan fashion.