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The scene from the Dsquared2 show in Milan.
THANK heaven for gigolos. They grow up in the most delightful way. They wend their adorable persons into the plush upholstered boîtes of European five-stars and into A-list parties in Marbella and onto yachts at St.-Tropez. They park themselves semi-permanently on the Internet where, despite the best efforts of the law and bluenosed flaggers, they prove the wisdom of Colette’s observation that not everything in life is better if it’s free.
They also turn up on Milan runways, well packaged as rent-boy types — or at least their symbolic stand-ins do. During a season that otherwise lacked excitement, they brought a certain frisson to the men’s wear shows.
The charms of a largely ornamental male with lots of leisure time were subtly referenced at labels like Giorgio Armani, Ermenegildo Zegna and Bottega Veneta; danced around at Prada; frankly noted at Gucci; and used as the stylistic cornerstone at Dsquared, a label whose designers, Dean and Dan Caten, seldom present a concept subtly if they can hit you on the head with it, like a safe pushed off a ledge.
The set for the Dsquared show may have looked like a goofy cut-rate copy of that in the gorgeously detailed Paul Schrader thriller “American Gigolo.” Yet the key details were in place: a ceiling-hung bar of the kind from which Richard Gere’s character, Julian Kaye, hung while exercising; the reflective chrome Modernist chaise longue; all the mirrors an occupational narcissist might desire. In Mr. Schrader’s Calvinist worldview, the gigolo is a hapless cipher, a soulless parasite. In that of Dean and Dan Caten, he’s a happy-go-lucky lug with plump pectorals, a stash of Viagra and a cushy job.
Rarely do the Catens miss an opportunity to haul the masculine archetypes out of the gender toy chest: Boy Scouts, cowboys, motorcycle gangs and truckers have all turned up at one point or another. Typically they play sexuality for laughs; yet here they were surprisingly affectionate in showcasing their gigolos in jackets with high armholes, and tailored longer than the customary kiddie-department length.
The charms of a largely ornamental male with lots of leisure time were subtly referenced at labels like Giorgio Armani, Ermenegildo Zegna and Bottega Veneta; danced around at Prada; frankly noted at Gucci; and used as the stylistic cornerstone at Dsquared, a label whose designers, Dean and Dan Caten, seldom present a concept subtly if they can hit you on the head with it, like a safe pushed off a ledge.
The set for the Dsquared show may have looked like a goofy cut-rate copy of that in the gorgeously detailed Paul Schrader thriller “American Gigolo.” Yet the key details were in place: a ceiling-hung bar of the kind from which Richard Gere’s character, Julian Kaye, hung while exercising; the reflective chrome Modernist chaise longue; all the mirrors an occupational narcissist might desire. In Mr. Schrader’s Calvinist worldview, the gigolo is a hapless cipher, a soulless parasite. In that of Dean and Dan Caten, he’s a happy-go-lucky lug with plump pectorals, a stash of Viagra and a cushy job.
Rarely do the Catens miss an opportunity to haul the masculine archetypes out of the gender toy chest: Boy Scouts, cowboys, motorcycle gangs and truckers have all turned up at one point or another. Typically they play sexuality for laughs; yet here they were surprisingly affectionate in showcasing their gigolos in jackets with high armholes, and tailored longer than the customary kiddie-department length.
Credit all data and Photo from http://www.globalfashionreport.com/
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