Closing out the first day of Milan Fashion Week Men’s, Dean and Dan Caten delivered a quintessentially Dsqaured2 ode to the art of transformation. Placing a Polly Pocket-esque makeover machine at the centre of their FW24 runway, the fictitious gadget allowed models to embody the two halves of this season’s collection: raw and refined. The metamorphosis was made possible by casting a roster of identical twins, with Dean and Dan themselves closing the finale dressed in dual epitomes: Dan in jeans and chiffon shirt, Dean as a redhead siren in a corsetted dress and heels – George Michael’s Freedom played as the crowd went wild.

Exploring a dichotomy of day and night, dishevelled streetwear was explored through deconstructed denim splattered with mud or snow, and weathered sweatshirts, cotton tanks and checkered shirts artfully destroyed and torn in all the right places. Parka-turned-anorak outerwear was thrown over fair isle knits with elongated sleeves enveloping hands, paired with slouching, unbuckled jeans and topped with voluminous, furry headgear. As nighttime closed in and the models swung through the doors of the designer’s magical makeover machine, denim jackets transformed into sleek black blazers or bejewelled bombers, cut-up jersey shorts became velvet suit trousers or python-print PVC flares, and varsity vests turned into sheer shirting slashed to the navel.

Womenswear was steered in the same direction as models caked in mud descended the runway in paint-splashed denim held up by giant gold buckled belts. Elsewhere, body-skimming silhouettes were paired with barely-there knickers and knee-high boots. The same layering seen in menswear was translated into jackets wrapped around waists as a slash of thigh poked through and outerwear was piled on top of cut-out t-shirts spliced and tied back together. Floor-length skirts and feather-trimmed blazers marked a shift to the evening, while the classic little black dress got a frisky laced and beaded makeover with gold chains acting as nipple covers. We learned two things from Dsquared2 this season: skin is still the designer’s hottest accessory and opposites do attract after all.