High Fashion Won’t Throw in the Towel: Yuhan Wang and Melitta Baumeister Challenge Athletic Fashion Norms

Yuhan Wang and Melitta Baumeister’s sporty chic collections set a new standard for fashion experimentation.

OLIVIA KARLEN

Sportswear takes the win on the Spring 2025 runway with spunky twists from Yuhan Wang and Melitta Baumeister during London Fashion Week. The designers with their namesake brands interfuse conventions of athletic wear with contrasting style aesthetics to bring an elevated level of maximalism to the ritualistic design of athletic wear.

Wang blends traditional boxing gloves, football shoulder pads, and motorsport jackets with dainty lace, frilly bows, and flower appliques to create punchy juxtaposition. Bridgerton-esque corsets of virginal whites and baby pinks paired with knee high varsity striped socks and boxing shorts and gloves with lace trim are the knockout main event of Wang’s Spring 2025 show. Linebacker shoulder pads dressed with pastel florals and delicate lace are a likely touchdown with the romantic, ultra-feminine coquette aesthetic popularized by Gen-Z. 

German-born Baumeister opts for a bold approach and fuses athletic wear with campy, exaggerated silhouettes and hardware that point to a sharp, edgy direction for the future of sport-inspired attire. Clogs embellished with metallic silver spikes pay homage to the punk scene of the ‘90s, and break the status quo of the styles of high school cliques you once knew when paired with theatrical, oversized soccer-inspired jerseys. Padded leather reminiscent of the most fashion-forward biker gang you know meets mid-thigh spandex shorts and running shoes in an imaginative experimentation that challenges conventional fashion labels and pushes the boundaries of sports-inspired attire.

Yuhan Wang and Melitta Baumeister’s work are an artful cocktail of striking sartorial design and sporting touches. Their Spring 2025 collections reject the traditional image of athleticism with a fresh perspective, and emphasize the existing athleticism inherent in a plethora of individuals that align with diverse fashion identities from punk to coquette.