Is athleisure over? Melitta Baumeister thinks not.
The shy designer, who prefers to stand on fashion’s sidelines, officially entered the game this season, showing on the runway for the first time, and in Wednesday evening’s coveted closing spot no less.
Around for nearly a decade, Baumeister has only recently been forced into the limelight after snagging last year’s CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund grand prize. For emerging talent, it’s like the industry equivalent of winning an Olympic medal, and hot on the heels of the actual Olympics, she was thinking about sport.
More specifically, movement is what excited her. It’s “such an interesting part of any human experience,” she explained in a backstage scrum. Baumeister grappled with the idea of how to push it to extremes, hoping to create “an aerodynamic feel” through shape, she added.
The show got off to a literal running start with Paralympic athlete Scout Bassett, who jetted down the industrial space in a spandex one-piece. From there the collection touched on almost every banner trend this week: collegiate and prep, bubble hemlines, pastels, backward shirting. But they all came with off-kilter, oftentimes humorous proportions and details.
XXL football jerseys and wobbly hoop tanks hovering over biker shorts moved in interesting ways disjointed from the bodies steering them, while fin-like shoulder attachments and exaggerated, upturned collars on fabulous balloon maxis gave the impression of supercharging forward. As did wind tunnel hairdos.
Fluidity came by way of sweatsuits with deconstructed sleeves and peter-pan collar tent dresses. In shades of lichen, pale pink and banana yellow, some with Baumeister’s signature accordion pleats, they looked great on her size inclusive cast.
Bananas are an ironic leitmotif for the brand and new commuter totes had curved bottoms, possibly to accommodate the worlds largest one. Double-heeled clogs were another fun, if not odd addition.
They’re hardly for gym wearers, nor was the bulbous sequin cape construction with ruching around the neck like a stepped-on tin can. That it was silver seemed a good fit. For Baumeister to take home gold, her love for shape could still expand into newer ones beyond “A’s” and “O’s.”
