The 90s saw a streamlined men and women side-by-side approach to fashion, pushed by none better than Helmut Lang. A designer who didn’t believe in separating the sexes, he showed both collections together at the same time. It was a philosophy that gave his catwalks – and his brand – an electric charge. Helmut Lang was no more a menswear designer than he was a womenswear designer, and vice versa. (Writers would talk about how ‘cool’ and ‘urban’ his handwriting was. Wrong. It may have been the ultimate modernism, but it was incredibly sexy, with an artisanal stealth/violence of expression lurking underneath).

During the 00s however, menswear charged forward and became its own beast, with extra focus placed on standalone fashion weeks. The big brands realised what an area for growth this could be – and the industry shifted. It was the standalone schedules that would ultimately drive a wedge between an interplay of the sexes in one presentation.

Now a dialogue is emerging again, even if it’s not as utopian in reach as before.

Men are more confident about being knowledgeable and excited by what they wear, so the collections have become more and more sophisticated in their proposals. The effect of that is women now have a parallel set of collections to pick from too. In London, the coolest girls wear Shaun Samson and Christopher Shannon in the smallest sizes as well as shopping for dedicated killer womenswear.

This season in Raf Simons’ Paris showroom, the Belgian showed his clothes on antique womenswear mannequins, despite forging ahead with a men-only catwalk. You like it? You want it? You buy it, the subliminal message. Why not? (Fact: early Raf Simons collections featured female cameos – We Only Come Out At Night, AW96; How to Talk to Your Teen, SS97; AW97).

In Milan, Prada presented a special women’s collection in tandem with the SS14 menswear, whilst back on home turf Matthew Miller showed similar ambition with womenswear offerings alongside his men’s.

It’s by no means a clean cut deal, but the fact that menswear is now so exciting women want to dip in and take away a piece of the action is a great thing. Let it continue.

Don’t miss our other new season takeaways. Be informed with Show Business: Runways Go Hard; Sports Direct: Track Suits Tailoring; Agenda-Setting Collection: Prada; Agenda-Setting Collection: Saint Laurent; Hair Today: The Christopher Shannon Effect; The Best Looks of SS14.