MILAN, Italy — Dean and Dan Caten opted once again for a co-ed show this season, but instead of mixing men's and women's looks to build one single narrative on the catwalk, they went for a surgical division: first men's, then women's. The trick, in a way, is understandable if a bit mechanic. It made everything easy to read. The common inspiration of both collections was evident just as much as the differences in the tone of expression.

To put it bluntly, while menswear felt au curant, the stress on hi-octane, hi-heeled glamour — once again — the womenswear had something terribly dated about it. But more on that later.

The Catens were looking at Bruce Lee for inspiration, as in Seventies-Hollywood fantasies of an extreme-ised Chinese world. Hence, a profusion of golden brocades and dragons mixed with DSquared2's trademark denim — halfway between Kansai Yamamoto and dear old Evisu. On top of this, there was the jumbled mix of tailoring, fatigues and vague militaria which, for this brand, is almost a given.

At times the goings got a bit all over the place, but it was all very Dsquared. Consistent and certainly formulaic, not moving forward.

Womenswear, on the other hand, was moving backward, and it was a pity. The abundance of tacky gold and frilly baby dolls, and those killer heels, projected the action back at the end of the ‘00s, when DSquared was in a totally different place, and the world in general was, too. It is time to move on.