Dsquared² Spring 2011 RTW

KARMEN PEDARU

The first look out, a crystal-encrusted sweater and hot-pant set, suggested we were in for a vampy romp in the style of Dean and Dan Caten's last show—none too subtle and without much in common with what the brothers sell so successfully in stores.

SASHA PIVOVAROVA

This time, though, the opening was not a sign of things to come. While the temptation to turn up the sizzle on the runway must be hard for these showmen to resist, resist it they did. Instead, they struck a balance, serving up preppy tailoring with a winking sex appeal rather than a full-on assault.

Nimue Smit

The flat oxfords were a big surprise, especially after Fall's "spinal cord" heels, but they worked with the show's pantsuits as well as winning basics like boxy khakis and plaid bermuda shorts (teamed with a denim and a white cotton poplin button-down, respectively).

Vlada Roslyakova

The straw hats and oversize glasses, in contrast, were silly; the collection's boyish vibe would've come across without them.

Olga Sherer

Upping the ante for after dark—and no one would begrudge them that—the designers sent out a daringly bare white waistcoat worn with black satin short shorts and a backless minidress, alongside more covered-up pieces like a tuxedo shirtdress, a Le Smoking, and a trompe l'oeil evening coat-cum-cape. Even a tomboy likes to let her hair down once in a while.

Charlotte di Calypso

Maud Welzen

Frida Gustavsson

BIANCA BALTI

Anna Selezneva

Kristina Romanova

Constance Jablonski

Sophie Srej

CHANEL IMAN

Snejana Onopka

Samantha Gradoville

Ieva Laguna

Hanne Gaby Odiele

Ming Xi

Nimue Smit

Auguste Tomasuite Abeliunaite

Olga Sherer

Vlada Roslyakova

Charlotte di Calypso

Maud Welzen

BIANCA BALTI

Kristina Romanova

Sophie Srej

Constance Jablonski

CHANEL IMAN

Anna Selezneva

Snejana Onopka

KARMEN PEDARU

SASHA PIVOVAROVA

Dean and Dan Caten

Dsquared² Spring 2011 menswear

Julian Kaye, Richard Gere's character inAmerican Gigolo, was the man of the hour for Dsquared² designers Dean and Dan Caten. Audience members found Julian's eviction notice from the Beverly Hills Residence Apartments, plus his business card, on their chairs.

BIANCA BALTI

Time for him to hustle—with Dsquared² ready to supply the wardrobe. It was a typically great setup from the twins, and they were faithful to their theme. The only problem? Julian's wardrobe was an expensive study in anonymity—in his line of work, it was a bad idea to stand out.

EVANDRO SOLDATI

So a pink shirt with immaculate boot-cut blue jeans was just about it. Likewise the check shirt and navy blazer, or the pale blue jacket with the apricot tee and white shorts (that would be Julian's rig for a call-out to a bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel).

PATRICK KAFKA

In the past, Dsquared²'s themes have given them full license to compose harebrained hymns to porn-star excess. And nobody did it better. This season, it felt as though theAmerican Gigolo scenario was intended to give them a platform on which to display their grown-up aptitude for tastefully "classic" menswear.

And if that's the case, then they could count the show a success. They know how to cut a silk mohair tux. But when even Brazilian super-mannequin Evandro Soldati, in a cream suit with lilac shirt unbuttoned down to there, looked tame, you could feel in your gut that, by the standards the Catens have set themselves, they'd missed the mark.

OSCAR SPENDRUP

MIGUEL IGLESIAS

FRANCISCO LACHOWSKI

ARTHUR SALES

VLADIMIR IVANOV

BIANCA BALTI

VLADIMIR IVANOV

PATRICK KAFKA

EVANDRO SOLDATI

OSCAR SPENDRUP

VLADIMIR IVANOV

MIGUEL IGLESIAS

FRANCISCO LACHOWSKI

ARTHUR SALES

BIANCA BALTI

Dean and Dan Caten with Bianca Balti