The fashion world is like a jungle - full of unbreakable hierarchies (just look at the tussles to get on the front row), exotic creatures (the street style pack) and endangered species (the couturiers). Alexander McQueen knew it - remember his acclaimed collection 'It's a Jungle Out There'? - and so too do Dean and Dan Caten of DSquared2. Though naturally their exploration of the jungle wasn't a comment on the pace or pressures of the fashion industry, instead it was chance to strip down some hot models and round-up a troupe of stranded army boys.
There was some kind of a forties 'Lost' scenario going on at the show - an American plane had crashed in the jungle and the soldiers on board were gradually stripping off and getting used to life al fresco. The Catens had upped the anti with the theatrics - in recent seasons there have been whispered complaints from British press in Milan that the duo had been toning down the sex appeal - by opening their show with the vision of a toned male model bathing in a tropical waterfall in just a pair of minute white underpants. It was hardly a credit to the duo's design abilities, but a much-needed pick-me-up given the 9.30 start time.
But if you could pull your eyes away from the near-naked boys - as many of those present couldn't - you were faced with a collection that was actually quite subdued for the duo. This season, they'd got the balance right by channelling their more audacious ideas into the set rather than onto the clothes - grass skirt and parrot aside. This was less costume, more fashion. Those metallic pieces, including a rather striking bomber, looked fresh, while the duo's tailoring prowess - usually pushed out of the limelight by overzealous styling - shone.
