Dsquared2 opens first U.S. flagship on Rodeo Drive

Dsquared2, the Italian-by-way-of-Canada luxury brand helmed by twin brothers Dan and Dean Caten, opened the doors of its first U.S. flagship over the weekend – on Beverly Hills’ Rodeo Drive.

Sandwiched between Zadig & Voltaire and Brioni just south of South Santa Monica Boulevard, the 4,500-square-foot store establishes a stateside boutique beachhead that will be followed by Dsquared2 doors in New York City and Bal Harbour, Fla., over the next couple of months. Until then, it’s the only place in the country where the full men’s and women’s collections – in the entire range of sizes – will be available.

The brothers Caten, who founded the label and serve as its creative directors, collaborated with Milan-based architectural firm Storage on the design of the two-story space that boasts a concrete and black glass façade, towering front windows and a soaring, 30-foot-high exposed ceiling. The interior has a bit more of an organic feel with natural wood accents in the fixtures and dressing rooms (which, in a nod to the Catens’ north-of-the-border roots, are papered in photo prints of Canadian forest vistas).

Oriented vertically, the ground floor showcases the menswear (currently it’s the blaze-orange fall 2014 penitentiary-themed collection on display) in the front, the more formal Classics collection (Italian tailored suits and tuxedos designed by Dsquared2 and produced by Isaia) toward the back, with the brand’s fragrance, eyewear, underwear and men’s accessories offerings also on display.

Although a few eye-catching pieces of the women’s collection are in the street-level mix, the full women’s collections are merchandised downstairs (including a capsule line of cocktail dresses and red-carpet-worthy evening gowns), as are the label’s shoes and bags.

“After nearly 20 years of starting Dsquared2, we are so proud to bring our brand and our entire store concept offering all of our collections to U.S. customers,” the Catens said in a press release announcing the opening. “It’s been a long held dream of ours to have a retail presence here, and this Los Angeles store represents a new chapter and an energetic retail future for our brand.”

Some of the cities that are home to Dsquared2 boutiques have men’s suit silhouettes named after them (the Tokyo and the Milan, for example) and during a recent visit to the store -- where there was some serious foot traffic in and out the door, by the way -- we learned a Beverly Hills suit was in the works.

Given the brand’s cheeky attitude and Canadian/Italian heritage, we’re guessing the new suit style might be a worthy consideration for guys looking to switch things up for the laid-back, international feel of next year’s Golden Globes red carpet.

That could be too soon though, since the first salvo in the 2015 awards-show circuit is less than four months away.

Unless, of course, Dsquared2 is working double-time.

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