Job security is an issue for all of us — even Britney Spears got the memo. Love her, hate her, say what you want about her (to crib a line from her latest single, “If You Seek Amy”), as her “Circus” tour criss-crosses the country, few can argue that the artist-formerly-known-for-all-the-wrong-reasons has got back down to business. Among the most revealing aspects of her latest reinvention are her barely-there stage get-ups — and I’m not talking about her lack of pants. It is certainly Spears’s most ambitious relationship with the runway to date, due in no small measure to her close collaboration with Dean and Dan Caten of the label Dsquared, the identical twins who have dressed the likes of a touring Madonna and are known for a strict allegiance to all things pop. Here, brother Dan opens up on dressing Britney’s big top. She performs tonight at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y.I have to ask: What’s your favorite song off of “Circus,” if you had to choose?
The title track, “Circus.” It’s the song I sing all the time!
So how did this collaboration come about?
It was a long time in the making. We wanted to do something with Britney for a long time. This just felt like the right time. Everything fell together this time — we were right, she was right. We were going to do some other things with her in the past, but this one just kind of seemed — well, everybody pointed this way.
The theme is obviously a take on an old-timey circus. Is this a process that you work out with Britney and her camp, or is this something that you and Dean decide privately and then pitch to her and her team?
More or less, we worked with the circus character arc of the show. We figured out how to expand on a circus theme — that was our first input. Then we tried to play with the circus theme in other ways and make it a little bit more twisted. We tried to put a little bit of a sexual, sadomasochist twist on it. The hooded guys, her backup dancers, were kind of like her sex slaves. If you listen to the songs she chose for this tour, they’re a little bit more erotic. So it was kind of like playing on that kind of feel — “Piece of Me” and stuff. The outfits start from the traditional circus ring at first but move to a little bit more of a hard-core sexual vibe. I mean, there’s a leather wrestling match!
Was the sky the limit here, or does Britney run a tight ship?
You have to remember, we’re doing costumes for the stage — there’s a lot of limitations of exactly what the performers can do. Sadly, ideas do get chopped because they are too difficult. You have to keep in mind that they have to move and they have to do stuff. Especially with the more extreme stuff, you have to consider a safety element and a functional element — everyone has to see properly, for example. They could fall and they could hurt themselves, and no one wants that. You have to think a bit about everybody’s needs.
The clothes have got to be durable, I imagine.
Yeah, so that blows a few ideas. (Laughs). But, it’s always fun, though. It’s really great to see when it all comes together. And on stage, it all looks so much better anyway than when we’re preparing everything. But, yes, some things had to be tamed down for the show. And it also has to be put on the road. They have to wash the clothes and all that, so we also have to make sure we don’t make anything too delicate.
How would you characterize Britney’s relationship to style? Particularly when it comes to performances, I know certain pop stars are known to be total control freaks — they want to make sure every sequin matches their vision. Other artists are easier: “Dress me. I’m just the singer, do what you want with me.”
But you know what I like about Britney? She’s easy. It’s not that she didn’t have an opinion, but sometimes it’s difficult when an artist has a strong opinion, because maybe you disagree with their opinion. It’s nice when artists have the attitude “Yes, I’m the singer, but you should be the one that knows about styling.” When they ask you something, it’s nice when they respect and understand where you’re coming from. So, she was really easy on that level. She asked us, “Well, what do you think?” or, “You like it like this?” And then we would explain, “Yeah, this looks great like this” or, “The pants should fit a little higher.” The look is a little bit more ’50s, a little bit more retro than what Britney usually wears. We explained to her how certain fits can elongate your body. She is great listener and very open to direction. What’s really important on stage is that you’re making a silhouette and that there should be shape. Even if the audience can’t see Britney from close up, they must be able to see her from far back. It was important that you could read her from, like, 200 feet back.
Tell me a fantasy look for Britney you have dreamed up somewhere in the back of your head.
I like when she’s kind of soft and kitten-y, and kind of blond and that kind of thing. I wouldn’t say pinup girl, but kind of like vixen-y. She’s very sexy and very kind of — the blond, blue-eyed and then the rest. It’s nice to have a little bad.
A favorite concert that you’ve been to in the past?
Well, I guess I’ve got to say, I love the Madonna one that we did — the Drowned world tour. Actually, you know what? The first Blonde Ambition tour I loved. The “Vogue” thing — that was a memorable moment in my lifetime. (Laughs.) And I think we saw that tour 10 times. We were big Madonna fans. Following that, working with Madonna on her Drowned world tour was pretty cool. Seeing your stuff up there on her was kind of cool. That’s a kind of emotion that you can’t live down.Anyone else you would like to dress for the stage?
(Laughs). I’m trying to think. Anyone out there that should give us a call? We would love to dress other pop singers. I prefer it when somebody like us a little bit and comes to us. (Laughs). We don’t want to knock on anybody’s doors because you can’t force anyone to like you. But, I think we’ve been pretty lucky with the music industry. We’ve worked with a lot of people already. So, I think we’ve kind of lucked out.
Source: The Moment
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